Fiore
by HeroPower
Summary: In the fourth story in the Jaden's Journal series, Jaden's time at Duel Academy is drawing to a close, and graduation is just around the corner. However, on what would otherwise be an ordinary day, graduation becomes the last thing on Jaden's mind, as the fury of a dragon is unleashed on him and his loved ones. Set in Jaden's POV.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.

* * *

Author's Note: Hey, look at that title! Wait... didn't I namedrop Fiore in an Author's Note during Competing for Love? AH! Am I clever or what? ...No. Not in the least. I just lucked out. As for why that's the title, I'll explain at the end.

Anyone who saw my profile since Competing for Love finished will know I intended to release this "When Sleepless Nights Begin". This is a reference to Berserk. which is getting a new anime release starting July 1st. Why post it when Berserk starts? Go watch the first season or the movies, then just... get back to me about the Deja Vu. Actually, don't. Berserk is very adult and made me wanna vomit.

Anyway, I decided to post this a day early. I mean, it's probably July 1st somewhere. Also today marks 90 days since I uploaded Chapter 4 of Competing for Love, where I finally got my love of writing back. Plus, today's an anime characters birthday! Not one from GX, but whatever.

I actually considered posting this much earlier, on Jesse's birthday. Why? Because Jesse is a vital part of GX an- ...Okay, because the Future Trunks saga of DBS started on the same day. That has nothing to do with post Season 2 GX, but I'm psyched! He's my second favorite 90's anime time traveling kid of royalty. ...Okay, narrow category, but still! One of my favorite characters period!

Really, I should be holding off, since my keyboard is broken and I have to either borrow my Mom's laptop to write (with its glitchy keys) or use the On-Screen Keyboard. I also don't have any of the duels written... But hey, Chapter 1 is written, and Chapters 2 and 4 are halfway done. Oooooh, Chapter 4...

Anyway, I won't keep you waiting any longer. Here's how I make up for that horrible mistake 8 years ago.

* * *

You're really gonna read this? You know what I said last time, right? What kind of sadistic person are you, to want to know the absolute worst misery I've ever been put through?

Well, I'm not gonna judge you. Sure, it sounds like that, but I really just want to make something clear. This was not like the fun adventures I'd had at Duel Academy up to this point. I just want to make that clear now.

But if you really want something funny, I suppose I can tell you what happened before that fateful day. Ugh, that sounds so cliche. Still, there's not much else I can call it.

How did the worst experience of my life begin? Well, obviously, it started with my Bachelor Party.

* * *

...Okay, I should explain. This wasn't my actual bachelor party or anything like that. Alexis and I STILL hadn't discussed much about marriage. I'm pretty sure I made a joke about me wearing a red tux if she wore a blue dress, but that's it. It was really something Atticus threw together.

"A bachelor party?" I asked, after Atticus had stopped by my room. "Atticus, you know Alexis and I aren't actually engaged, right? Even if we were, don't those come closer to the wedding?"

Okay, Alexis and I HAD talked a bit about weddingS, but not our own. After nearly making a fool of myself again, I had asked her for some of the finer details, and she was kind enough to explain.

"Jaden, we're all graduating this year." Atticus said. "Well, everybody except for Hassleberry, Blair and Marcel. You get what I mean though. Who knows where we'll all be in the future? This may be your only chance to do something like this with your friends."

"What do you mean?" I asked, plopping down on my bed.

"Do you really think we'll all be together forever?" Atticus asked. "I mean, let's be real here. Even if you and my sister don't get married... we'll all probably be scattered across the world. I'll probably be too busy traveling throughout the world, singing sold out concerts and making guest appearances on the hottest talk shows to plan the actual parties. And that's not even counting for whatever the others are planning."

I only yawned. Most likely, a lot of us would go on to have careers in dueling. That's what I'd been thinking at least.

"Well, too bad." I said. "I'm sure Syrus and the others will be there."

Atticus just shook his head.

"Look, Jaden, I'm going to miss this place." Atticus confessed. "And I'm sure you will too. Graduation will be a hectic time, so I thought we could have one last great night before we leave this place."

"We will." I said. "Syrus, Chazz and I are planning a senior prank like nothing you've ever seen before."

"Crowler doesn't own a wig, so you can't swipe that." Atticus said.

"How'd you know?!" I shouted.

"I didn't." Atticus shrugged with a smug smirk. "Anyway, I already invited the others, and convinced Blair to let me borrow her room, so you can stay behind if you want, but the rest of us will be partying it up nearby."

"Chazz built his room to be soundproof." I said.

"Soundproof for the inside." Atticus pointed out. "The sound from within will be blasted out. You'll hear all the fun we're having."

"I could just tell Crowler and Bonaparte." I said.

"Go ahead." Atticus shot back. "I've already gotten their permission."

"You're lying." I said.

"Try me." Atticus said.

Eventually, I relented. Atticus did have a point. We didn't know when we would get to do something like this again, so I ran with it.

Unfortunately, I shouldn't have allowed it.

* * *

Everyone was there at my "bachelor" party. Syrus, Hassleberry, Chazz and Marcel were obvious, as was Atticus, but somehow Jesse, Jim, Axel, Aster and Sartorius were there too!

When I asked each of them, I got different answers.

"Chancellor Foster knows how closely connected this place is with Duel Monster Spirits." Jesse explained. "Since your Spirit Day is coming up, he agreed to let me come."

"Atticus apparently pulled some strings with my Chancellor." Jim said. Darn it! I should have known! "And I figured this would be more fun."

"I still haven't found the student responsible for Professor Viper's disappearance." Axel said. "That was enough reason to come back here." Okay, doesn't answer how you got permission, but I'll just pretend you were allowed here to investigate again.

"Sartorius forced me." Aster said bluntly.

"Atticus insisted I come." Sartorius explained. "According to him, I was the one who finally brought you two together, so I'm an important player." Sartorius chuckled nervously. "However, I couldn't possibly show my face here on my own. Not after everything I put you all through."

"Eh, don't worry about it." I said, patting Sartorius on the back. "We let Chazz in after all. You're like... twice as good as he is."

"HEY!" Chazz shouted.

"I also invited Adrian here." Atticus said, walking over. "And he doesn't have the excuse of being controlled by an evil alien light or whatever Jaden says happened to you."

"Adrian?" I asked. "Why isn't he here?"

"Something about going through punishment with his wife, and he couldn't possibly leave." Atticus said. After that, Atticus got a faraway look in his eyes and sighed dreamily, "I wish I could be as lucky as him."

Sartorius and I both stared at Duel Academy's resident pretty boy for a few seconds.

"That good, huh?" Atticus asked, with a chuckle. "Alright! I'll land a role in a movie for sure!"

Atticus pumped his fist, before looking at the clock.

"Oh, darn!" Atticus said. "I'm supposed to be at the bachelorette party by now!"

"Uh... What?" I asked. "Aren't those parties for the girls?"

"Yes, but there's gotta be a hot guy there for the single ladies, right?" Atticus asked. "And we wouldn't want the bride to be tempted away from her future husband, so as her brother, I will make this sacrifice!"

Before I could say anything snarky, Atticus was out of the room. Oh, well. As long as he didn't strip in front of Blair, and just flirted with Jasmine and Mindy, everything would be fine.

"So, speaking of careers..." Sartorius eventually broke the awkward silence. "Have you found any managers for your career as a Professional Duelist?"

Yes, I still had yet to tell anyone but Alexis of my worries about the Pro League. We were working through them, alright?!

"Nah." I said. "I'm thinking about taking it easy for a bit after I graduate. Move in with Alexis, get a small little job, just sort out my life for a bit. Being a hero here at Duel Academy is hard work."

Sartorius chuckled, before holding out a business card, "Well, if you're ever interested, Aster turns down many challenges."

I took the card and put it in my pocket.

"Thanks." I said. "I'll see what happens. Hey, speaking of future, do you still do fortunes?"

"I haven't been able to see the future since I lost to you and Alexis." Sartorius admitted. "But why are you asking? You are the one who defies destiny, after all."

"That's just it." I said. "If I can defy destiny, I wanna defy the bad stuff, not the good stuff. And if I know in advance what'll happen, I can go along with the good, and counter the bad."

"Well, I didn't bring my tarot cards, but..." Sartorius said, reaching into his pocket.

Sartorius pulled out his Duel Monsters deck instead. He quickly separated most of the Duel Monsters cards that were based on Tarot cards, from the rest of his deck, and handed it to me to shuffle. After returning the deck to him, Sartorius held out the deck and beckoned me to draw the top three cards.

I placed them face down on a table. Sartorius walked over and lifted them up one by one.

First, Arcana Force I - The Magician. However, it was upside down.

"The Magician." Sartorius said. "Tell me, Jaden, have you heard of the Journey of The Fool?"

"Not a word." I said, smiling dumbly.

"One interpretation of Tarot cards is that they tell the tale of The Fool, as it is the Zeroth Arcana." Sartorius explained. "In the case of The Magician, he is the one who first helps the Fool enter into adulthood. From the darkness into the light. As such, his relationship to The Sun is an important one.

"However, in this case, The Magician is Inverted. If The Magician is normally meant to lead The Fool to greatness, then Inverted, The Magician is meant to lead him astray. He will guide The Fool with wise advice, not for The Fool's sake, but his own. In a sense, The Inverted Magician will lead us to power, even if we grow drunk off of it."

I just stared at Sartorius for a second.

"There are other things associated with The Magician, like rising above duality, as it appears both genders at once, but I do not believe that is what this card is signifying." Sartorius went on.

"Uh huh..." I said, a dull glare on my face. "So, a magical guide who tries to lead me astray?"

"I assure you, Jaden, if this card referred to me, I would have lied." Sartorius said.

"Right..." I said. "And we're sure the Light of Destruction isn't trying harder to manipulate me?"

"The Light of Destruction was obliterated when you defeated me." Sartorius said. "I could feel all traces of it vanish."

I wanted to argue, but Neos' spirit appeared next to me and nodded to confirm Sartorius' statement.

"Alright." I said. "What's next?"

Sartorius lifted the next card. Tour of Doom.

"This card represents The Grim Reaper." Sartorius said.

"So, I'm gonna die?!" I shouted.

"No." Sartorius said, with a chuckle. "That is a mistake most people make their first time. I drew this card many times during the reign of the Society of Light, and yet, only once was I defeated."

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"However, it should not be taken lightly. The Reaper represents sacrifice. In the Journey of The Fool, The Fool has become The Hanged Man and once his life sentence has ended, The Fool moves on to the afterlife, learning more about the spiritual side of this world.

"The Reaper is associated with The Emperor, for the way to the throne is paved with countless sacrifices. Sacrifices of possessions, ideals and even of lives.

"Judging from your previous card, it signifies an end of the relationship with the deceiver. However, The Reaper is also a reminder that life is short. We have such limited time on this planet, we should appreciate what things we have, if we can not have eternity."

"That's some pretty heavy stuff." I said.

Sartorius nodded, "Yes. Now, on to the final card."

Sartorius picked up the card. Empress's Staff.

"So, that's The Empress then?" I asked.

"No." Sartorius said. "This card represents The High Priestess."

Yes! This had to mean Syrus would eventually hook up with the Dark Magician Girl and they'd have a daughter! ...What? When blond-haired magical girls give birth, the child has pink hair! That's what super hero shows taught me!

Unfortunately, Sartorius had a different interpretation.

"The High Priestess warns to seek paths outside of the obvious. What we see before us might not always be what we believe it to be. Decisions we once made may not be the best.

"Associated with The Justice and The Judgement, The High Priestess reminds us to temper our judgement with mercy, lest we fall from the path of justice ourselves."

Sartorius sighed in relief.

"Nothing about The Fool?" I asked.

"Oh, sorry." Sartorius said. "I was just caught up by the realization on your message."

"Then forget The Fool!" I shouted. "Tell me what it means!"

"But how can I tell you something if you want me to forget you?" Sartorius said with a chuckle. "Basically, the message I am taking from this is that a friend will betray you soon. You might cut ties with the friend, but you should remember to apply mercy in your judgement against that person."

"Alright!" I said. "So, keep my friends from stabbing me in the back, and if I fail at that, don't go nuts on them! Good warning!"

I crossed my arms and nodded. Man, I really was a fool.

"Hey, Jaden, what're ya doing?" Jesse asked, walking over and placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Oh, just having a bit of a laugh." I said.

Sartorius nodded, collecting his cards and walking off to talk with Aster about something or other.

"Dude, you need to see what Hassleberry did to Syrus." Jesse said, pointing to one corner.

Syrus was shaking up and down, like, super jittery.

"Gonna meet Dark Magician Girl tomorrow!" Syrus chanted over and over.

"What's gotten into him?" Jim asked, also looking at the sight.

"Super fizzy soda!" Hassleberry said, proudly.

"Fizzy soda?" I asked, not believing a word of it.

I immediately turned to Chazz. Chazz saw me staring at him, and only gave the most obviously fake shrug I've ever seen.

"Atticus asked me to order some refreshments." Chazz said, faking innocence. "I just ordered what he told me to order."

I could tell from Chazz's face that he wasn't lying. After you know someone for nearly three years, you pick up on these things.

"I told Hassleberry he and Syrus wouldn't be able to handle them, but he didn't believe me." Chazz said.

"WHOO!" Syrus shouted, pulling a lampshade off one of the lamps in the room. "Look at me!"

Syrus stuck the lampshade on his head.

"I'm the Dark Magician Guy!" Syrus said, mockingly. "Just because I taught the Dark Magician Girl everything she knows, people think we belong together, and not with her true love, Syrus Truesdale!"

...Okay, I admit, I laughed. I couldn't help it. Syrus making a fool of himself, on purpose, was a rare sight. Man, I miss him.

"Atticus really intends to make this like a real bachelor party, huh?" Jesse asked.

"Here." Jim said, holding out one of the "fizzy sodas" to me.

"Nah, thanks." I said, holding a hand up in refusal. "I know how this goes. I drink one of these, and the next day, I wake up in Crowler's office in nothing but my underwear, with a spray can in my hand, after someone ELSE sprayed 'Crowler is a loser' on his wall."

"I'll try some." Jesse said, before Jim tossed him the can.

Jesse and I stared at the can, cautiously.

"Here goes nothing." Jesse said, getting ready to pull the tab.

I quickly jumped out of the way, expecting it to explode everywhere. But, somehow, Jesse opened it without blasting everyone. Lucky son of a- Okay, I won't go that far. But you KNOW if that was me, I'd have gotten a face full of the can's contents!

* * *

As my friends began to make fools of themselves, I stepped out for a breath of fresh air. It's not that Blair's room stunk. She'd have killed us if we let that happen. I just felt the need to clear my head for a minute. Aster followed me out.

"Not trying to spy on the girls, are you?" Aster asked with a chuckle.

"Of course not." I said.

Aster looked at me for a second, before smiling.

"Hey, once you finally graduate, call me up." Aster said. "I'll be your first opponent as a Pro."

"Uh, didn't we prove who had the better Heroes?" I asked.

"I've talked with Pegasus." Aster said. "I've got a new Ace Monster waiting in the wings for you. And besides..."

Aster stopped and tried to find the right way to phrase the rest of his sentence.

"You seem different." Aster eventually settled on.

"Different?" I asked back.

"Yeah." Aster said. "Not in a bad way. You seem like yourself, just... more mature. I don't know. It's hard to explain. But you and the others have definitely grown since I first arrived. Sartorius thought so too."

I stared at Aster for a second, working up the nerve to tell him my concerns about the Pro League, before I gave up, "Sure. Just wait another month or so."

I put on a goofy smile and chuckled. Aster smiled back.

"Well, I'm not about to put up with Hassleberry's singing any longer, so I'll be in my jet." Aster said, walking away.

As Aster left, I looked over at Alexis' room, where her "bachelorette" party was being held. For a brief few seconds, I considered going to talk to her about all my worries. But then I reconsidered. After all, she was probably having the time of her life, hanging with Jasmine, Mindy and Blair, doing... whatever.

That's what I thought, at least. If I could do that night over, I'd bust down that door if I had to. Why didn't I go to see her?

Actually, if I'd known what the next day would bring, if those events couldn't be changed, I'd have done so many things differently, like stay in the room and party it up with my friends.

* * *

Once I went back into Blair's room, I found utter CHAOS waiting for me. Lamps were broken, Blair's bed was destroyed, cans had been spilled, and that was the small stuff. Okay, I'd understand if it was just Syrus, Chazz, Hassleberry, Jesse and Jim, but Sartorius was there! Hey, Sartorius, aren't you an adult?! Shouldn't you have done something about this? I mean, yeah, Axel left the party shortly after he arrived, but c'mon! And as for Marcel?

"HELP!" He cried, hanging from a chandelier by his underpants. Poor kid. I never did find out who put him up there.

Still, I relished having to clean up their mess for once. I mean, for one, I was usually the one to make the mess and have to rely on others to clean it up. For two, about a year ago, one of the graduating class told me that blackmail was the ultimate weapon! And finally, I knew that in a couple months, I wouldn't be able to spend time with these guys like this.

Well, at the time, I thought it would be months.

So, after helping Marcel down, and cleaning a bit, I got Syrus, Hassleberry and Jesse to my cabin. Then, as Sartorius took Jim to the Obelisk Dorms, I managed to get Chazz to his room... after he puked. Great... something else I had to clean up.

* * *

When I was finally done fixing what I could of the mess that was once Blair's room, I crashed on the floor in my cabin. Oh, the fun times.

All things considered, I slept relatively peacefully. Yeah, sure, I didn't even bother to get a sleeping bag, just an extra pillow, but after having to lug four guys around the Slifer Cabins, and cleaning up the mess that was Blair's room, I was exhausted.

Sorry if this was long. How long are prologues supposed to be anyway? But all this needs to be said. If for nothing else, then to set the stage for the difference in tone the next day would bring with it. But there was no way I could possibly have known that, as I slept like a baby.

* * *

Author's Note: Only the Prologue, and I already earned the M-rating, with the under-aged "fizzy soda" drinking! ...Yeah, I'm still trying to keep the spirit of the dub (for now), even if I made it BLATANTLY clear what the soda actually was. Also, a mention of stripping, but as Joey once said, there's no penalty for that.

I am not gonna be able to keep up that "spirit of the dub" thing for long. Heh... This is gonna be a rollercoaster ride, folks. We're gonna go into some more mature subjects in this one, guys. Don't worry, nothing dirty, just... not something I feel right putting in a T-Rated story. Oh, and I wanna keep as many kids away from Chapter 4 as possible. I realize that ratings don't mean much these days, but... yeah. I'm not ruining a 12-year old's life. If they read this, it's on them!

Now, before I get into the title, there's one thing I wanna address. Yes, I'm aware Sartorius didn't use Empress's Staff in GX, and the card appeared in 5D's. However, I feel justified in this, seeing as how it would likely be in his deck, and the only other way I could put in High Priestess would be to have Jaden have pulled two cards at once as the third one, Empress and Emperor's Staff, signifying the female equivalent of the Heirophant. Given those circumstances, I feel like this was the better option.

Okay, time to talk title!

Fiore is the name of the villain of Promise of the Rose, which, I swear, also inspired Season 3 alongside Eva and Berserk! Only, the relationship wasn't nearly as bungled as with ShinjiXKaworu. But that's not the only reason!

Fiore is Italian for Flower, which is the theme of a certain villain's deck. ...I'm really not helping the case of "Season 3 **isn't** a mangled mess of a crossover fic forced on another show", am I?

Okay, complaints about Season 3 aside, there IS a more important reason behind the title. I've been making slight changes to the names of all the original fanfics. **Breaking the** (Society's) **Hold** , **Missing** (You), **Competition** /Competing for Love... But there isn't exactly much that I can do with Fury. However, Fiore sounds like Fury. ...Okay, the CHARACTER'S NAME sounds like Fury. If you wanna get technical, Fiori (Flower **s** ) is closer in pronunciation to Fury, but it doesn't have the reference.

So, in the end, the title has several means. A play on "Fury", a reference to Promise of the Rose, and referencing a villain! Yeah, I think I picked a good title.

Oh, and I always looked at Breaking the Hold, Missing and Competition, and thought Missing should have been changed to Missing You, so the original three fics would go down a word each title, since they were the original trilogy. Replicated here, with Fiore being one word, whereas the others are four, two and three (not exactly down one, but a different number of words in each title). Also replicating how it isn't a remake of the original trilogy, but one of the two add-ons, by not having "-ing" in the title.

Now, does this mean I definitely won't be doing a remake of the fifth fic, since we've had four words, two words, three words and now one word? Well...

And if nothing else, it's better than the other name I came up with for this fic. 50 Shades of Yu- ...Yeeeaah... People know where I'm going with that. Yeah, referencing a 90's Anime (even if it's gotten a remake in recent years) felt less like an attempt at being relevant than a New 10's best seller.

And seeing as how I made that joke, I now need to relocate to my secret underground bunker hidden somewhere in the Mojave Desert. ...Enjoy my jokes now, guys. They're not gonna last long in this one.


	2. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I really shouldn't be posting this yet. My keyboard is still broken, my mother's is more glitchy than before, Chapter 2 isn't complete yet, and I've had trouble writing the duels. Clearly, I'm insane. Ah, well! I'm just gonna back myself into a corner.

Review Answering Time!:

LetItFlow: Yep! I'm not big on writing darker things, but I've had this planned for awhile and... what can I do?

Johnny Spectre: I actually haven't watched much Fairy Tail. As for the Supreme King appearing... uh, can't spoil, sorry. But someone will appear, I'll say that much.

Now, time for the chapter!

* * *

I know this is one of the most overused phrases out there, but I should have known the day wouldn't be a good one, when it started out with me waking up to being stepped on by Syrus, who had set an alarm to wake up early so he could set up for the day's festivities. I had grown accustom to sleeping through the alarm, even if I was getting better about waking up earlier. I didn't remember I had been sleeping on the floor, so in Syrus' mad dash to get things done, I ended up having his foot impact with my stomach. It was not a fun experience, to say the least.

But I still managed to get back to sleep.

Half an hour later, Hassleberry woke up in a stupor.

"Ugh... Gotta get to the latrine..." He groaned, stepping down on my arm.

The sudden pain piercing through my body was enough to wake me up again. Oh, well. At least Hassleberry got out of the room fast. I mean, it could have been worse.

Jesse was the one to finally wake me up for good. Because I had tossed him into MY bunk, he quickly noticed I was on the floor. He managed to avoid stepping on any part of my body when he stepped out of bed, but the sudden vibrations on the floor were still enough to disturb what little bit of sleep I was getting.

"Better avoid stepping on Jaden..." Jesse said. "Uh... My head is spinning..."

There are certain five word sentences you NEVER say, like "What could possibly go wrong?" or "I'm sure everything is okay". "Better avoid stepping on Jaden" can be added to that list. Because, thanks to those words, and his blurred vision, I got the rudest awakening I had in years.

I will not explain the sound I made, suffice it to say that it was high-pitched and Jesse ended up grabbing his head from the shriek I made.

Now, I'll admit, looking back, that was kind of funny. Okay, it was funny in a painful way, but still funny. So, that's probably why I was still going into the day thinking it would be good. I mean, Duel Monster's Spirit Day! It was everybody's favorite day of the year! What could possibly- Ah, you see where this is headed!

* * *

Once I recovered from Jesse's foot, and Jesse recovered from my shrieking, we eventually met up with the others. And by the others, Syrus and Chazz. Syrus was, as he had the past two years, wearing a big, pink bowtie. Chazz was wearing the same XYZ-Dragon Cannon costume he had worn the previous two years as well.

If you, for some reason, are going into this without knowing what happened on my second Duel Monster's Spirit Day, well, the reason for this was because, during our first year, Syrus had met up with the Dark Magician Girl, she gave him a peck on the cheek, and he was convinced that if we didn't wear the same costumes, she wouldn't recognize us. Of course, this only applied to Alexis, Chazz, Bastion, and to a lesser degree, Syrus. I HAD been wearing a costume when the day started, but everyone knocked it, so I ditched the thing.

"Because of you, I nearly ran late!" Syrus shouted at Chazz, while frantically drawing a battlefield on the ground.

"Hey, blame Hassleberry, not me." Chazz said. "He's the one who forced you to drink that stuff."

"You bought it!" Syrus shouted. "I should tell Chancellor Crowler on you!"

"If you do, you'll be turning yourself over as well." Chazz pointed out. "After all, you drank the stuff."

"It'll be worth it!" Syrus shouted.

"Yeah, but then you wouldn't be able to see Dark Magician Girl, would you, Sy?" I asked, as Jesse and I walked over.

After the initial shock of Jesse and I suddenly appearing, Syrus thought over what I said for a second, before hanging his head in defeat, "You're right."

"Ah, so this is the XYZ costume Jaden was telling me about." Jesse said, poking Chazz's costume.

"Yeah, and hands off the material!" Chazz shouted, stomping away. "I don't know what you're going as, but I can tell it won't cost as much as this baby."

"What ARE you going as, Jess?" I asked. "If you don't have a costume, I've got a good idea."

Let's see what everybody thinks of Jesse when he's the one wearing bits from several costumes! HA! ...They'd just love it, wouldn't they?

"Actually, I've got a costume ready." Jesse said. "It can fit two people if you need one, Jaden."

"Jaden can't wear a costume!" Syrus howled.

Jesse grabbed his head. Apparently the headache still hadn't left.

"Why not?" Jesse asked.

"Oh, I didn't wear a costume while I dueled the Dark Magician Girl." I explained. "So, Syrus is convinced she'll recognize me better without the costume."

"Too bad." Jesse said. "If you and I couldn't team up in a costume, I'd love to see what you would have worn."

"You wouldn't." Syrus and Chazz said flatly. Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys.

After that, Jesse went off to get his costume.

While we waited for him to return, Syrus, Chazz and I shot the breeze.

"So, Alexis got her Harpie Lady costume back, right?" Chazz asked.

"Yeah." I said. "She rented it from the store last week."

"Yes!" Syrus cheered. "Once she arrives, the gang will all be here!"

"Hey, that's no fair, Sy!" A voice whined from the Slifer Dorms behind us.

Behind us stood two people. One a young girl, the other a short boy. The girl was in a leotard with a tutu around her waist and a plastic visor over her eyes. Her hair had either been dyed pink and cut, or she was wearing a wig. The boy, on the other hand, had messy purple hair which was obviously a wig. An ascot around his neck, his body was covered in a spandex uniform, with some heavy looking boots on his legs.

If you couldn't guess from those descriptions, we had a Cyber Tutu costume and a Hero Kid costume.

"I was here last year!" "Cyber Tutu" complained.

"You know he only counts people who were here two years ago, Blair." Chazz said, crossing his arms.

"Uh, Mademoiselle Tutu, must I really wear this?" "Hero Kid" asked.

"Ah, I figured that was Marcel under that wig." I said.

"You let them trash my room!" Blair shot back. "You pay the price!"

"I thought the price was to allow you to stay in my room last night." Marcel said.

"You have a point..." Blair muttered. "Fine then! But you still have to wear it!"

"Because Cyber Tutu and Hero Kid make a cute couple?" I asked, a sly smile on my face.

"N-NO!" Blair shouted, flustered. Ah, young love... "Because he's gonna be the hero who saves the day at Duel Academy!"

"Right, I need someone to pass the torch to." I said, nodding.

"Not like that!" Blair said. "When the real hero goes rogue, the sidekick always has to step in and bring him to his sense!"

"I'm Jaden's sidekick!" Syrus shouted.

"Yeah, but you can't duel Jaden." Blair said. "It's against the rules. Now, Marcel, do me a favor and keep Jaden here."

Marcel could only sigh as Blair forced a Duel Disk on his arm. Hey, look. Someone finally realized how hard it was to duel with things on your arms.

Now, you're probably wondering what Blair meant when she said Marcel had to keep me here, and that it was against the rules for Syrus to duel me, huh? Well, it all goes back to the fact Crowler was named Chancellor, starting my Senior year.

During the first two years I was here, in order for Third Year students to graduate, they had to obtain 100 "points" from dueling other students. You'd get a number of points based on the year of your opponents. Beat a Freshman, you get 1 point, a Junior 2, and a Senior 3. You could also only duel the same person once, and whoever got the most "points" would be given the honor of participating in the Graduation Duel. This was what has become known as "the Sheppard system".

But when Crowler took over, he changed this. "The Crowler System" required a more strict condition to graduate. 100 Straight Wins! Yeah! It didn't matter who you dueled, but if you had a streak going, you couldn't duel that person again until the streak was broken. When Crowler pitched this, he said it was because he couldn't stand to allow students to go out into the world without being assured they were the best of the best, and didn't just con a bunch of Juniors and Freshmen into giving in for them to graduate. But, honestly, we all knew the real reason. Crowler had grown close to several of us in the Graduating Class. He couldn't stand us leaving, so he tried to make the condition harder.

Oh, and if you're wondering, Syrus, Chazz, Alexis and Atticus had all gotten their 100 Streak done, and passed the test. I'd gotten a good 96 Streak going. It helped that Crowler didn't factor in Sy and the others dueling me after their streaks were over. But don't think they just threw the match. They made me earn my wins.

That said, Hassleberry and Blair were deadset on keeping us at the Academy. Since they'd failed to stop the others, they were going out of their way to keep me here at all cost. They actually asked several of the other students to duel on their behalf. And Marcel was the latest in this long line.

It was all good though. I'd been planning to finish my 100 Wins during Duel Monster's Spirit Day.

Just like earlier in the year, I'd beat Marcel with no problem. To avoid the public embarrassment, I'll refrain from giving the details here.

* * *

"And that's game!" I said, doing my winning pose, after beating Marcel.

"Just as I thought..." Marcel sighed.

"Marcel!" Blair cried out. "I was counting on you!"

"Sorry, Mademoiselle." Marcel said, sadly.

A crowd had gathered during the duel. Okay, I'd hit 97, I only needed three more opponents!

"So, who's next?" I asked.

"Will I be allowed?" A voice asked.

I quickly recognized the voice. Spinning around, I noticed Jesse had returned, now wearing a false horse head over his own head. His face was sticking out from the middle of the horse's neck. A pretty standard costume, all truth be told. Except for, y'know... the horn made of REAL SAPPHIRES ON THE TOP OF THE HEAD!

"Sapphire Pegasus!" I shouted, pointing at the horn.

"Yeah!" Jesse nodded. "I would have worn the body too, but I had no one to be my other half."

I quickly realized what he meant by that.

"You wanted me to be the horse's a-" I started.

"Oh, please, Jesse!" Blair cried out, jumping in front of Jesse. "You beat Jaden at the School Duel! If there's anyone who can keep Jaden here, it would be you!"

"It would be my honor." Jesse said, bowing.

Jesse took Blair's hand, in a very gentlemanly manner, kissed the fake rose on it. Okay, I don't know why, but that annoyed me to no end! Marcel too, apparently.

"Hey!" Marcel shouted, stepping between Jesse and Blair. "You should only kiss a woman's hand if she allows it first."

"Heh, sorry, buddy." Jesse said, placing an arm behind his neck and chuckling sheepishly. "I was just getting into character."

"Hate to break it to ya, Mr. Ed, but you can't duel me for my 100 Duel Trial." I said. "Crowler's not allowing anyone who doesn't strictly go to Duel Academy to be counted in the streak."

"So, I have to wait until you duel three more people?" Jim asked, walking up.

"Jim!" I shouted, before realizing something. "Hey, where's your costume?"

"Couldn't find a costume that would work with Shirley." Jim said, pointing to the crocodile in his backpack. "What about you?"

"Syrus won't allow me to dress as Gearfried the Dark Magical Guardian." I said, faking a pout.

Jim nodded, before examining the others.

"Very nice!" Jim said approvingly. "But where's Alexis? I can't help but wonder what she would dress as."

I shot Jim a quick warning glance, before I realized something. He had a point. Alexis hadn't shown up yet.

"Now that you mention it..." Syrus said.

"Blair, you were at her party last night." Jesse said. "You know something?"

Blair just shook her head, "I left early. She forced me out when Atticus showed up and talked about showing off his Musician King costume."

The rest of us, with the exception of Marcel, turned pale at this. What was Atticus thinking?! And seriously, Blair! You go nuts over weddings, but you didn't get why he was taking his shirt off?! Even I got that!

"Perhaps I can be of service." Someone said.

The voice belonged to a figure completely covered in red robes. Even their head was covered. All that could be seen under the turban was a pair of eyes. And no, this couldn't be Alexis. The voice was distinctly male.

"Who are you?" I asked.

With a hearty chuckle, the man said, "Come now, Jaden. You just had me read your fortune last night."

"Sartorius?!" I shouted.

Removing the turban, Sartorius' hair popped ou- Wait, how did he keep all that hair under his turban?!

"I thought Crystal Seer would be the best option for me." Sartorius said.

OH! Of course! Even the guy who was possessed by the force of nature that I was destined to defeat... Even THAT GUY ended up favoring Jesse. Great... Oh, but I kid. Jesse and I were cool now.

"Jokes aside, I have my doubts about finding your girlfriend." Sartorius said. Man, what was with this guy and sounding cryptic? Just say her name, dude!

"Where's Aster?" I asked, looking around. "He was a Duel Academy student. Maybe Crowler will count him as another win for me."

"Won't you need to beat him first?" Marcel asked.

"It's a sure thing." I said, jokingly.

"He's still getting into costume." Sartorius said. "The Defender armor is quite heavy."

So, Aster was gonna be Defender, The Magical Knight, huh? Aster's got some good tastes.

* * *

In order to pass the time, I picked a challenger from the crowd and dueled him. Another easy win, and this wasn't even against one of my friends, so it isn't all that note-worthy.

What was note-worthy was that, during this duel, I felt like I was being watched. Looking around, I realized someone dressed as Strike Ninja hadn't taken his eyes off my duel once. Jim noticed this as well, but quickly clued me into the identity of our mysterious Ninja.

"Axel." Jim whispered, motioning to the Ninja.

"As a Ninja?" I whispered back.

"He figured if he hid his whole body, he'd be able to challenge the person who attacked Viper without them realizing he's looking for them." Jim explained.

"Ah..." I nodded.

"Hey!" Blair said, jumping in front of me and looking to the crowd. "If anyone can beat Jaden, I'll gladly give up my Jewel Disk!"

The whole crowd began going nuts.

"Don't forget, Blair..." I said. "I beat Professor Stein, a former Pro Duelist, just to get that thing for you."

Okay, I actually dueled him just to shut him up, but it made the horde back down. I wasn't about to see Blair lose that. I worked hard to win that! A friend was gonna keep it!

"You know, Jaden, you never did anything like that for me."

My face lit up. That was Alexis' voice! Finally!

I spun around.

"Le- Huh?!" I shouted.

The others turned to see what I saw.

Alexis was sitting on the railing of the Slifer Dorm, which was dangerous, but not the thing that shocked me. No. What surprised me was that, instead of the Harpie Lady costume Alexis had worn for the past two years, her costume was very different this time. It was practically a normal outfit.

A black, sleeveless shirt, with the bottom and right side cut off, on top of a white tube top. Okay, I never knew Alexis to wear things like this. And on top of that, she was wearing a pair of black pants. What was odd was that the left leg had been cut, so it was the same length as the legs of hot pants! Many of the younger boys in the crowd nearly passed out.

"Alexis?!" Chazz shouted, eyes practically popping out his head.

"H-Hey, Alexis!" Syrus shouted. "You're supposed to be wearing the Harpie Lady costume you did the past two years."

"Oh, my brother took that costume from me and insisted I wear this." Alexis lied. Yes, I could tell she was lying. What I wanted to know was why.

"But the Dark Magician Girl..." Syrus started.

"She'll be here no matter what, Syrus." Alexis said, jumping down and patting him on the shoulder. "If she truly cares about you, she'll return to you someday. And if she doesn't, you can always go find her."

"Y-Yeah." Syrus nodded, still in shock.

I was getting ready to ask Alexis what she was doing, when, after disappearing off to the bathroom in the morning, Hassleberry finally returned.

Hassleberry was dressed in old, tattered robes, of a different kind than Sartorius' more mystical sort. His looked more like a warrior's. On his head was a white- Oh, let's be honest. Nothing I describe will top Alexis' costume, whatever it was. Hassleberry was Armed Samurai - Ben Kei. Next to him was some guy dressed as Gilford The Legend.

"Sorry I'm late, guys." Hassleberry chuckled. "I had t- Private Lexi?!"

Hassleberry stared in bewilderment at Alexis, just like the rest of my circle of friends. Alexis only waved in response.

"Hassleberry, where have you been?" Syrus eventually asked.

"Well, after I unloaded my cannon into the great porcelain kingdom..." Didn't need to know that, Hassleberry. "I had to hunt down this guy."

Hassleberry pointed to "Gilford".

"He was the Second-In-Command of my old platoon." Hassleberry went on to explain. "Even if I can't beat Sarge, he might be able to."

Well, it made some sense. I did know most of Hassleberry's strategies. This guy was completely unknown to me.

"Alright, Game On!" I said, activating my Duel Disk.

"One second, Jaden." Alexis said, walking over.

I turned around, ready to ask her what she wanted, when she grabbed me and pulled me into a deep kiss. I was left dumb-struck.

"Sam hill..." Hassleberry muttered.

"And I thought Dark Magician Girl's kiss was something..." Syrus also muttered.

"Lucky little-" Chazz started, before devolving into grumbles.

"Wish I could do that."Jesse said.

Now, you probably expect me to be thinking something like 'Back off, Jesse!' or something, right? Well, no. There was only one thing I was thinking.

 _'What's gotten into you, Alexis?'_ I asked in my head.

Alexis broke the kiss after a few seconds, and said, "That was worth the wait."

"A-Al-A-Alexis..." I stammered, trying to get air back to my brain. "What was that for?"

"A good luck kiss." Alexis said, with a seductive smirk.

"I thought you didn't believe in luck?" I asked.

"Can't hurt." Alexis said.

* * *

Okay, something was wrong with Alexis. This much was clear. But my opponent was growing impatient, so I decided I had the rest of the day to ask Alexis what was wrong. It's not like I wouldn't find out soon.

The duel was harder than my 97th and 98th, but I still got my 99th victory.

"And that's game!" I shouted, doing my winning pose. "99% there! I love that number!"

As Syrus and I cheered for my victory, and Blair and Hassleberry cursed the fact I was one duel away from leaving Duel Academy, Crowler walked up.

"Ah, another fine Duel Monster's Spirit D- Miss Rhodes?!" Crowler shouted.

"Hello, Chancellor Crowler." Alexis said, with a smile.

"Y-Your costume..." Crowler stammered.

"I hope there's nothing wrong with it." Alexis said.

"N-No..." Crowler trailed off. "Just surprising."

"He has a point, Alexis." I said. "This isn't like you."

"Well, people change, Jaden." Alexis said.

Yeah, but not this drastically over night. Something was wrong. Anyone could see it. I couldn't help but worry. Was this just a prank? Had Atticus traumatized her so badly at the party last night? Did he have dirt on her? Did someone else have dirt on her? So many thoughts raced through my mind.

Now, up until this point, everything was pretty much normal, Alexis' odd wardrobe and personality shift aside. I mean, we were all hanging out, dueling, having fun... Just like any other day. The only thing really different was that we were having a little dueling festival. But this wasn't exactly out there for the past two years either.

No, it was right after Crowler showed up that things took a turn for the worse.

"So, are Mr. Sheppard and Miss Dorothy coming?" I asked Crowler. "Oh, and Bonaparte?"

"Bonaparte is serving at a cafe." Crowler explained. "But Sheppard and Dorothy should be along soon. Last I saw, Sheppard was having issues getting into the Dark Magician costume."

As Chazz, Syrus and I realized this meant Dorothy would likely be dressed as Dark Magician Girl again, we were pulled back to reality by a pained grunt.

In the crowd, Strike Ninja, a.k.a Axel, tensed up, staring at Alexis' room. The rest of us directed our attention there.

Atticus was crawling across the walkway, trying to reach the railing. He was covered in wounds, with his uniform ripped and what looked like chain marks on his arms and legs.

"Give me..." Atticus started, as he tried to pull himself up on the railing.

At this point, the railing gave out and Atticus fell forward to the ground below. Chazz and Sartorius ran over and helped the guy to his feet.

"Atticus, are you alright?!" Chazz shouted.

"Chancellor Crowler, go get Miss Fontaine!" Syrus shouted.

"Right!" Crowler nodded, about to run off.

"Give me..." Atticus started again, breathing heavily.

"We're getting you help." Sartorius said, reassuringly.

"...my sister back..." Atticus finally finished.

All of us quickly turned to Alexis. She was staring at Atticus like she didn't know what he was talking about, but I could tell it was an act.

"What are you talking about, Atticus?" Alexis asked.

"Give her back!" Atticus shouted. "Get out of her!"

"Atticus, you're scaring me." Alexis said.

Jim glared at Alexis, reaching for the bandages around his eye, before stopping.

"Alexis seems fine to me." Jesse said. "Maybe she's wearing a different style of clothes, but she seems fine."

"SHE ISN'T!" Atticus shouted. "Something took her over!"

"Alexis" curled her lip.

"Heh, guess I should have known." "Alexis" said. "I shouldn't have honored her request to keep her brother alive. Oh, but when she was practically giving herself up for him, I couldn't help but jump at the chance."

"Who are you?!" I asked, glaring at "Alexis".

"Alexis" just gave a dark smile and said, "It's been so long, my old friend."

* * *

Author's Note: And thus, the plan I've been working on for over a year and a half begins to come together!

And you get to see the direction this fic is headed. Not only is it more serious than the others (this will probably be the last really "funny" chapter for a bit), but it also takes a lot of the jokes from the first three and makes them more serious. Consider how, in Missing You, Chazz kicks the railing of the Slifer Dorm and takes off a chunk of wood. In Competing for Love, Blair forces Jaden on to the steps and he mentions them cracking. And now, I've taken those jokes and made them dark by having Atticus get injured just leaning on the railing. Yeah, sign of things to come.

I've sat here for ten minutes trying to think of some subject to touch upon, like I would in Competing for Love, but I got nothing. So end joke time!

I didn't realize this at the time, but the Prologue alone is twice the length of the original Fury. Bite me, 2008 Me! You and your loving your writing no matter how bad it was!


	3. Chapter 2

Author's Note: No funny Disclaimer this time, because... yeah, this is where the bad stuff starts.

I may be posting this a little soon after last chapter, but, whatever.

Review Answering Time!

Johnny Spectre: Oh, go ahead and say whatever you suspect. I always love seeing what my readers think will happen.

LetItFlow: Good to hear you got it so early! But yeah, things are about to get really bad.

On to the story.

* * *

What was going on?! First Alexis shows up, looking and acting weird, before Atticus busts out of her room, looking like he just came out of a torture chamber, declaring Alexis wasn't who she said she was, and Alexis confirmed this?

Okay, I'm ready to wake up now.

I guess it goes without saying that this was no dream.

"Old friend?" I asked. "Uh, look, I think I'd remember if I had a friend who looked like that before I came here."

"Alexis", whoever she really was, looked at me like she was genuinely hurt.

"You really don't remember?" The impostor asked, before holding up her left arm. "Well, maybe this will jog your memory."

What happened next was horrific. I'm warning you now, this turned my stomach.

The flesh on the impostor's arm turned purple, and it looked much more rough than any human skin. Her fingernails turned into long, jagged claws.

Looking at whoever this was triggered some sort of memory, although I wasn't able to keep hold of it. This brought back a familiar sickly feeling in me. No, this wasn't because of the disgusting change to the arm. This was the same sickly feeling as that night I talked to Marcel about his issues with his father.

"Ah, that got a reaction." "Alexis" said, smirking sadistically. "You remember now, don't you? Your old friend Yubel."

"Yubel?" I asked, covering my mouth to avoid vomiting.

"You know this girl?" Jesse asked, running over to check on me.

"That name sounds familiar, but..." I choked back more vomit. Don't try to force yourself to remember things, people. It does not go over well.

"Get away from my Jaden!" Yubel shouted.

"'Your' Jaden?!" Jesse shouted.

"Hey, get your own guy!" Blair said, clinging to me.

This resulted in Alexis' eyes turning orange, as Yubel glared at Blair.

"Let my sister go..." Atticus groaned.

"Let her go?" Chazz asked, before looking over at Yubel.

"She's using her body!" Someone yelled.

We all turned to look at the owner of the voice. Jim. Only, his bandages had been removed and a metal eye was revealed.

"Jim?" Jesse asked.

"I know I have a lot to explain." Jim said with a chuckle, before a serious look returned to his face. "But long story short, this eye can see things others can't. Alexis is being subdued in her own mind!"

"Yes, but you can't reach her, because of that comet passing." Yubel smirked.

"Comet?" Hassleberry asked.

"Who are you?!" I finally managed to get a hold on my stomach.

"I told you, Jaden, I'm your old friend." Yubel said. "Your guardian. Your lover."

And that's when everyone looked at me in shock. Can I have a minute to collect myself before rumors begin to spread?

"I've worked so hard to see our reunion come to pass." Yubel said. "You could show me some of the affection you would these people."

Yubel's last few words were said in a hateful tone.

"Worked so hard?" Jesse asked.

"Yes." Yubel said, lifting her arms up, to examine them. "The story is a long one, with many twists and turns. Oh, one of my favorites is the poor fool who saved me."

Everyone tensed up at this. A lot of us quickly realized where this was going.

"That man truly thought I would bring his son back if he kept me energized." Yubel laughed. "Well, they are reunited now."

"You killed someone?!" Jesse shouted in my honor.

"All for Jaden." Yubel said.

"Jaden would never want that!" Syrus shouted. "Especially from Alexis!"

"Don't worry. It wasn't by this girl's hands that it happened." Yubel said.

Yubel turned to Atticus.

"I had to adjust to the DNA first." Yubel explained. "His body was far easier to control at first. Really, isn't he more guilty of Thelonius Viper's murder than me?"

In the crowd, Axel tossed off the Strike Ninja costume and charged towards Yubel. Yubel, however, smirked before he reached her and leapt backwards, passing over him.

"YOU BAS-" Axel started, only to receive a chop to his neck.

Axel immediately passed out on the ground. Most of us would have been shocked, if we hadn't been pushed to our limit already.

"All those times Atticus called for his younger sister to get together with the Great Jaden Yuki..." Yubel chuckled. "It was all thanks to me. My true form isn't much to Jaden's liking, I suppose. But he seems to find this one attractive enough."

Did I say we were pushed to our limits by the surprises? Because that was wrong. At the very least, this one got to me. My legs began to give out. Thankfully, Jesse was there to catch me.

"You pushed me and Alexis together?" I asked.

"Don't flatter this girl." Yubel said. "It was inevitable you two would get together. I just made sure it was under my terms, and not destiny's."

Hassleberry, having had enough, lunged at Yubel, his eyes in their dinosaur state. Yubel only side-stepped him.

"Jaden, we have so much catching up to do." Yubel said. "But there are too many disturbances here. Let's go somewhere more private."

Never turning away from me, Yubel starting running from the Slifer Dorms.

"Get back here!" Chazz yelled, as he passed Atticus over to Sartorius.

Chazz, Jim, Crowler, Blair and Marcel began running after Yubel. I tried to follow, but I could barely take a step forward.

"Hold on there, Jay." Jesse said.

"You can't stop me, Jesse." I said.

"Who said I was stopping you?" Jesse asked. "Just let me give you a hand."

* * *

With Jesse supporting my weak body, I managed to catch up to the others. It wasn't too hard. They had all stopped and were looking around.

"Where did she go?!" Chazz shouted.

"My eye isn't picking her up." Jim said.

Winged Kuriboh and Ruby Carbuncle appeared and pointed above us. Jesse and I looked up, causing the others to follow our gaze. Yubel was floating in the sky above us, demonic wings having sprouted from Alexis' back. Yubel smirked, before floating down and running backwards again.

* * *

We continued our pursuit. Every time Yubel got some distance on us, she would stop. I was certain she was leading us somewhere.

This somewhere turned out to be the edge of a cliff.

"Yes, this is the right spot." Yubel said.

"Right spot for what?" Blair asked.

Yubel only smirked and jumped back.

"You coward!" Crowler shouted.

Thankfully, Yubel wasn't trying to kill Alexis, like Crowler thought.

Instead, a portal opened behind her.

As Alexis' body sunk into the portal, Yubel left these parting words, "I'll be waiting for you on the other side, my King."

After that, we expected the portal to close. However, it stayed open.

"Jesse, help me over there." I said, trying to walk towards the portal.

"Oh, no!" Crowler said, stepping in my way.

"Chancellor Crowler, are you saying we should just give up on trying to save Alexis?!" Blair shouted.

"Of course not!" Crowler shouted. "However, I will not allow my charges to put themselves in danger!"

Crowler pulled out a phone and began calling up several members of the staff. Within minutes, Chazz, Jim, Blair, Marcel, Jesse and I were all escorted away.

* * *

Later, the gang all met in the Slifer Cafeteria. Well, most of us. Atticus and Axel were in the Nurse's office. And, obviously, Alexis was whisked away to wherever that portal led. Crowler was also busy making plans for going through the portal himself. Still, that left Syrus, Hassleberry, Chazz, Jim, Jesse, Blair, Marcel, Sartorius, Aster and myself.

"We need to get to that portal!" Chazz shouted, banging a hand on the table he sat at.

"Before that..." Syrus said. "Uh, Jim, what's with the eye?"

"Oh, right." Jim said. "Well, back when I was a kid, I lost an eye saving Shirley." Jim began to explain. "An old wise man gave me this eye in it's place. He said one day it would be used to save an important friend. I was supposed to use it when a comet was in the sky. But that comet has passed. That's the short version, at least."

"That's probably why she waited so long to act." Sartorius said. "She seemed to know about that eye of yours."

"But how?" Jesse asked.

Jim could only shrug.

"Unless she was the old man who gave it to me, I don't know." Jim said.

"Marcel, you can try to pull some strings with your Dad, right?" Blair asked.

"Papa is only Vice Chancellor." Marcel said. "He does not outrank Monsieur Crowler."

"I actually spotted Alexis while you were all chasing after her." Aster admitted. "If I had known..."

"This isn't your fault, Private!" Hassleberry shouted. "It's that thing's fault!"

"But what IS she anyway?" Syrus asked.

Everyone looked to me.

"Jaden, she did say you were old friends." Jesse said.

"Yeah, but I can't..." I grabbed my head.

"Hey, it's okay, buddy." Jesse said, patting my back. "We all have bits of our pasts we can't remember."

Chazz looked over and nodded, "There's plenty of things we'd all like to forget too. Judging by how that thing acted, I can understand wanting to forget that."

"I wish I could remember..." I muttered.

"Then maybe I can help." Dorothy said, walking in.

"Miss Dorothy!" Syrus shouted.

"What brings you here?" Hassleberry asked.

"Sheppard sent me." Dorothy explained. "He's busy trying to talk some sense into Crowler, so he sent me to talk to Jaden."

Dorothy walked over and sat down next to me, looking every bit like the motherly figure she had become.

"Jaden, when you were a child, you could hear the spirits of Duel Monsters, couldn't you?" Dorothy asked.

"It's a really vague memory, but I would wake up at nights and find my cards..." I said, trying to remember.

"Yeah, you mentioned that once!" Syrus suddenly shouted, before realizing his volume and covering his mouth.

"Your parents knew that." Dorothy said. "They actually told Sheppard about all this."

"I thought your Mama and Papa were never home?" Marcel asked.

"And they bought you a-" Blair started, before realization struck. "That was Yubel, wasn't it?"

Dorothy nodded.

"She became Jaden's favorite card." Dorothy explained. "The card his parents bought him as an apology for not being around. But, whenever he'd lose to friends while using that card... Well, terrible things would happen."

"The hospital..." Marcel mumbled.

"Yes." Dorothy said. "She would harm those same friends Jaden lost to."

"I beat Jaden without ending up in the hospital." Jesse pointed out. "Why didn't I end up in the hospital?"

"Jaden couldn't bear to destroy the card." Dorothy continued to give my backstory. "So, when the Neo-Spacian cards he designed were sent into space, the Yubel card was sent up as well."

"So, Yubel got the same cosmic rays as Neos and the Destiny Heroes?" Aster asked.

"We have no way of knowing." Dorothy said. "But it appears she was able to return to Earth."

"Wait a second!" I shouted. "Why don't I remember any of this?!"

Dorothy's face took on a truly dark expression.

"It's better not to say." Dorothy said.

"Tell me!" I said, grabbing Dorothy by the collar.

The expression of shock on everyone else's face, as well as Jesse placing a disapproving hand on my shoulder, brought me back to my senses. I quickly released Dorothy and backed away.

"Sorry..." I muttered.

"Well, if you feel so strongly about it..." Dorothy said, standing up and walking away. "I don't know whether to admire or despise your parents, Jaden. I could never make the decision to erase my child's memories."

Dorothy began to leave with that, honestly, horrific revelation about my life. However, before I could let everything sink in, she added, "Oh, and Fonda says Atticus wants to speak with you when you have a chance." Dorothy left after that.

I slowly tried to lift myself, but everything was getting to be too much. Thankfully, Jesse once again helped me, lifting one arm over his shoulder. Hassleberry ran over and took my other arm over his shoulder.

"C'mon, Sarge." Hassleberry said. "You should probably be in the medical tent anyway."

Syrus, Chazz, Blair and Marcel went with us. Jim, Aster and Sartorius stayed behind to discuss matters of the more... mystic variety.

* * *

When we got to the infirmary, Fontaine put me in a bed. According to her, my mental state might not have been the best at that time. But once she was out of the room, I had the others push my bed over to Atticus'.

"Hey, Jaden." Atticus said weakly. "How you doing, little bro?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "For one, you're in worse shape than I am."

"Nothing being around Miss Fontaine won't solve." Atticus said. Dude, leave the details of your student-teacher relationship to yourself.

"And two, I'm not your brother." I said.

"C'mon, Jaden." Atticus chuckled. "All my big talk wasn't just that monster talking. I totally wanted to see you and Lexi hook up."

Well, that was nice to know. But I had a more important question on my mind.

"Atticus, Yubel said she used your body up until now." I said. "I guess that's true?"

"That's why I wanted to talk to you." Atticus admitted.

Atticus looked over at another bed, this one covered.

"Axel, can you hear me too?!" Atticus shouted.

All we could hear was an annoyed grunt.

"Good." Atticus said. "Alright, this goes back to the School Duel last year. I went, anything to get away from those Society nutjobs. And while I was watching the duel, enjoying some talk with the ladies, Professor Viper asked me if he could have a few minute of my time."

I can explain the rest, in my own words. This Viper guy led Atticus to some laboratory of his. He went on and on about these Survival Duels, which was the preferred method of dueling at West Academy or something. Anyway, Atticus thought he wanted Duel Academy's School Idol to bring Survival Duels to Duel Academy. Instead, he wanted Atticus to bring something different to Duel Academy.

"He showed me that arm. The same one that appeared on Alexis earlier." Atticus explained. "It lunged at me. I could feel all the darkness in me being brought to the surface. It was like when I became Nightshroud, but worse. At least Nightshroud was part of me. Yubel, on the other hand, just took rest in my consciousness."

"And then?!" Came an angry yell from Axel.

"The details after that all mostly fuzzy." Atticus admitted. "Most of the time, Yubel was in control, just using my thoughts. But I do remember her attacking Viper and getting rid of the body by dropping it into the sea."

Axel burst out of bed and stomped over to Atticus.

"You want me to believe some demon thing killed Viper?!" Axel shouted.

"If it's any consolation, Viper wasn't a good man." Atticus said. "He had been using all the West Academy students to gain energy for that monster."

Axel glared at Atticus, before stomping away.

"Where are you going?!" Hassleberry asked.

Axel stopped and turned back around.

"No matter what his intentions were, Viper still died on my watch!" Axel said. "I want some answers on if he really was using us or if you're just lying! And the only one who knows for sure is that monster! I heard your nurse talking. She went into that portal, right? Well, that's where I'm going!"

"Axel, don't!" I shouted, but it was too late. Axel was already off.

"Jaden, whatever that Yubel monster wants, I don't blame you." Atticus said. "Understood? I don't blame you."

"Easy enough for you to say." I said. "She clearly wants something from me."

"Sounded to me like she wants your body." Jesse said, trying to lighten the mood slightly.

"But she has Alexis' body." Blair said innocently. Aaaand that did it. Or, it would have. But I couldn't shake my doubts.

"Look, guys, go stop Axel, alright?" I asked. "I don't want him, or anyone else to get hurt."

"I'm on it, Sarge." Hassleberry said, running out.

"Atticus, if this has been going on so long, why didn't you ever tell us?" Syrus asked.

"Up until last night, Yubel had full control over my body." Atticus admitted. "It wasn't until that bachelorette party she took Alexis."

"That explains why you wanted those drinks." Chazz concluded. "We'd be too out of it to think to check on you."

Yeah, but I didn't drink any! I could have done something!

"It doesn't matter." I said. "Yubel won't have Alexis' body for long."

"So, you're gonna go play the Knight in Shining Armor?" Atticus asked. "Hm... Well, Lexi isn't really into that whole thing, but when you do it..."

"We're leaving this up to Crowler." I said.

"What?!" The others shouted.

"Jaden, are you crazy?" Syrus asked.

"Yeah, Crowler can't duel his way out of a paper bag!" Chazz said. "What makes you think he can rescue Alexis?"

"He's a good leader." I said. "He'll get this all straightened out. Heh, maybe he'll call Yugi Muto, the King of Games, up, and Yugi can save her."

"What are you talking about?" Jesse asked.

"When my brother kidnapped Alexis, you were losing sleep trying to save her." Syrus said. "Well, at least, you lost sleep because you couldn't find any way to save her."

"That was a normal human being." I said. Well, okay, normal wasn't really the word, but you know what I meant. "Yubel is some sort of monster. We're not prepared to deal with that. We're just some teenagers!"

Everyone stared at me in silence for a few minutes. Looking at the condition of Atticus, and even Axel after that chop to the neck, they knew I was right. Well, most of them. There was one person who didn't listen. And ironically enough, it was the only one of us who wasn't a teenager.

"What are you talking about?!" Blair, the kid, shouted.

I looked over and saw Blair just glaring at me. After a few seconds, she began to climb up on my bed, attempting to grab my collar.

"Aren't you supposed to be Alexis' hero?!" Blair shouted.

"Blair..." Marcel muttered, trying to pull Blair back.

"She's right, Jaden."

We looked to the doorway. Sheppard was standing there.

"Mister Sheppard?" Syrus asked, as Sheppard strode past everyone.

"Up until now, you've taken on every challenge that appeared before you." Sheppard said. "You and everyone else. On your own, yes, you might be a teenager, but together, you and your friends have done things I never could have dreamed possible. I felt so guilty giving you the Spirit Keys, but you were all so magnificent as you protected the Sacred Beast cards."

I sat there and reflected on what Sheppard was saying. I tried to find some way to prove him wrong, but I couldn't.

"Crowler has done a wonderful job as Chancellor in my place." Sheppard said. "And you children have done much more than any teacher could ever hope for. The very job of a teacher is to see his charges grow to be better adults than the generation that came before them. I can safely say, judging from you, Jaden, and your friends, I succeeded in that."

Sheppard, who had a stern look on his face up until this point, put on a goofy smile before continuing.

"Now go out and get your game on!" Sheppard said. "Doubting and feeling sorry for yourself isn't like you."

I looked around the room. Everybody else seemed to be inspired by Sheppard's speech, and... darn it! Every other hero these days only stands around and looks pretty while brooding! Why couldn't I?!

Because that's not the kinda guy I was. I couldn't sit around and just mope. I had to do this!

"Jesse, Chazz, help me to the portal!" I said, a cocky smirk on my face.

Sheppard beamed with pride, as Chazz and Jesse helped me to my feet.

"Good luck, Jaden." Atticus said. "Save my sister. And show her your cool side!"

With a thumbs up and a flashy smile from Atticus, my friends and I made our way to the cliff.

* * *

When we got there, Hassleberry and Axel were being held back by several guards. Axel was glaring at Crowler, who still protected the portal.

"You're not my Chancellor!" Axel shouted. "You can't order me around!"

"It's because I'm not your Chancellor that I can't risk anything happening to you." Crowler explained. "We have absolutely no idea what's on the other side of that portal. You could wind up in a volcano, or a lion's mouth."

"Isn't that a little too out there, teach?" I asked.

Crowler turned to me and my crew.

"Mr. Yuki." Crowler said. "Don't you have bigger concerns right now? You still haven't recovered from your shock, I see."

Yeah, Jesse and Chazz had helped me all this way. However, I was ready to stand on my own. I pulled my arms off their shoulders and walked over to Crowler, glaring up at him.

"Let me go through that portal." I said.

"You ARE one of my charges, Mr. Yuki." Crowler said. "Yes, you have shown remarkable abilities up until this point, but I still can not put one of my students in harm's way."

"Yubel is after me!" I yelled.

"All the more reason to keep you away." Crowler said. "Who knows what she intends to do to you."

"She kidnapped my fiancee!" I shouted again.

"Fiancee?!" Crowler shouted. "Are you even aware on what that means?"

"I wasn't back during my first year, but I am now." I said. "Now, either get out of my way, or I'll duel everyone you've got to get to that portal!"

"Very well." Crowler said, activating his Duel Vest. "But be aware. Since you're not dueling a student, I will count this as a strike against your 100 wins. You'll have to start back from the beginning."

"That's fine." I said, motioning for my friends to pass me a Duel Disk.

However, before I could get one, Pharaoh jumped on my head, then proceeded to use me as a springboard and jump on to Crowler's head, while knocking me to the ground.

"Jay! Now's your chance!" Jesse shouted.

I quickly stood up and ran past Crowler, who was struggling to get Pharaoh off his face.

"Off! Off I say!" Crowler yelled, as I went by.

Syrus looked at Pharaoh, then to me and ran over to my side.

"Syrus?" I asked.

"Well, I didn't get a chance to see Dark Magician Girl today, so..." Syrus chuckled.

"I get ya." I said, smiling. "Let's go, buddy!"

"Wait for me!" Hassleberry yelled, knocking the guards away from him.

Crowler threw Pharaoh, who was quickly caught by Blair and Marcel, and went to grab Hassleberry as he ran over. Thankfully, he only managed to get him by the neck of his blazer, which Hassleberry slipped out of. Then Chazz ran up behind Crowler and held him back.

"Hey, Slacker, get Alexis back already, would you?!" Chazz said. "I'm really getting tired of all these people copying my plans to keep you apart.!"

"Right!" I chuckled. "Jesse, you keep everyone safe while I'm gone. You're the leader of the second wave. If I fail, you've got to save Alexis."

"What do you mean, IF you fail?" Jesse asked. Smart little... "You're gonna do this no problem!"

I smiled. At this point, Crowler had even stopped trying to resist Chazz, and just stared at Syrus, Hassleberry and me with concern.

"Please, don't die..." Crowler said.

"Ain't gonna happen, teach." I said.

We turned to the portal.

"So, Private Truesdale, you think your girlfriend might be on the other side of this thing?" Hassleberry asked.

"She's not my girlfriend yet..." Syrus said, blushing. "But hey, Yubel might have captured her to get to me, so she could take all of Jaden's friends at once."

Thanks for the laugh, Syrus.

"On three." I said.

"One..." Syrus began.

"Two..." Hassleberry continued.

"THREE!" I shouted, before we all jumped in.

"Good luck!" A group of voices bellowed after us.

I plunged headlong into the portal, Syrus and Hassleberry by my side. At this point, I was still determined that I could save Alexis. Little did I know, what waited for me on the other side of this portal wasn't the hope of saving Alexis, but a despair I needed to be saved from.

* * *

Author's Note: What a cliffhanger!

Don't worry. I plan to release the next one on the 30th. Long story short, I hate July 30th, and getting reviews will make that day more fun.

While you wait, here's a fun game to play. Go back through Breaking the Society's Hold, Missing You and Competing for Love and just... read the scenes with Atticus carefully. Find all the foreshadowing! I'll even give you one. Competing for Love Chapter 9, when Atticus talks about a prince marrying his bodyguard. Oh, shoot! Was that the foreshadowing I was talking about, not name dropping Fiore? The Master of Misdirection strikes again!

Also. I had plans to actually have Jaden duel Crowler next chapter, but I decided to cut it, since I didn't want to just do what the show did. So that Chapter 4 I've been referring to? It's actually Chapter 3, a.k.a Next Chapter. Hope you're looking forward to the chapter that earned this the M rating!


	4. Chapter 3

Author's Note: You may be wondering why I'm posting this chapter a week early. Well, I'm just excited about it, to be honest. I've been having a good week, and I just feel really good. But I'll still try to post another chapter next week.

Time to answer the reviews.

LetItFlow: Thanks! I was a little worried I was being a little too obvious about it at some points.

DBZGTFan: Thanks. Will do!

So, I've had some fun in this opening Author's Note so far. Let's kill the fun.

I decided not to title these chapters, because humorous titles wouldn't fit the nature of the fic, while anything I did come up with felt "deep" and pretentious. That said, because this fic was partially inspired by The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, when writing this chapter, I personally referred to it as "Tender Oblivion". So, here it is.

* * *

I woke up after what felt like an eternity. When I jumped into the portal, I expected to end up in the world of Duel Monsters. But as I looked around, expecting to see a dark realm, filled with monster spirits everywhere, I could only gasp in shock. Before me was Academy Island.

Okay, correct me if I'm wrong, but I did just enter a portal, right? And while I'm asking question, where were my friends?

Figuring that something had happened, and I lost my memory of those events, I decided going to the dorm rooms would be best. Even if I had been ejected from the other world, it's not like all my friends had gone. At the very least, finding Chazz or Blair would prove that this wasn't some alternate Duel Academy, where Giant Ogre dueled by summoning Brier and Beauregard, or Berserk Gorilla dueled by summoning Wheeler.

First stop, the Slifer Red dorm. If it was still Duel Monsters Spirit Day, everyone should be enjoying the festivities that Syrus put on. And if I lost my memory of the other side of the portal, then my roommates should be in our room, worried sick about me.

It was actually a relaxing walk, all things considered. Okay, so Alexis had been kidnapped by a Duel Spirit that I vaguely remembered, and I just randomly woke up in the middle of the forest, but this allowed me to clear my head. Well, fine, my worries were through the roof, but being able to just listen to the waves hit against the shore was kind of relaxing. At the very least, it calmed my nerves enough to help me keep a cool head.

As the Slifer Dorms got closer, I wasn't able to make out a single figure in front of the cabins.

"Huh, either everyone went home early, or I've been out longer than I thought." I mused to myself.

Shrugging, I made my way to my room and opened the door.

"Syrus! Hassleberry!" I called in. "You guys here?"

But the cabin was completely empty.

Closing the door, I put some stock in my "I found a way out by accident and lost my memories" theory. It happens all the time in games.

Regardless, I tried my next idea. Chazz! He'd be here, right? He'd probably call some Elite Princeton Attack Unit to investigate the portal, while he was relaxing in his room.

But that wasn't the case. His place was empty too.

Maybe he actually decided to come in after us.

While I was at the Slifer Dorms, I figured I would check to see if Blair was there.

I no longer had a key to Blair's room, so I was stuck knocking on the door.

No answer.

"Come on, Blair!" I called out. "It's Jaden! I'm back somehow!"

No answer.

"Alright, so Blair's probably with Chazz." I said. "Or maybe she and Marcel are hanging out in his room."

Off to Ra.

* * *

Again, my walk to the Ra Dorms was a leisurely one, compared to usual. Most times, if I'm frantically running some place, other students are crowding the way, and I either have the run through the crowd or slowly weave my way through, depending on the danger. But this time, all I could hear was the sound of the ocean. There wasn't even a breeze. If I wasn't trying to find out what had happened, I would have taken the time to appreciate the tranquility of it all.

Things weren't different at the Ra Dorms either. No one was walking around outside.

Inside the Ra Building, I knocked on both Marcel and Bastion's doors. Neither answered.

"Guess they're all with Atticus in the infirmary." I muttered to myself. "Oh, wait! Class!"

Duh! How could I forget? If I had been knocked out for awhile, it wouldn't be shocking if class had already started.

"Well, I have been getting to class on time..."

* * *

My walk to the school building was pretty much the same as my last two walks. Nice ocean waves, no random chatter, no students in my way. What was going on? Things were never this straight forward. Seriously, there was always something.

Since it was on the way, I dropped by the Obelisk Building. Maybe everyone reconvened in Atticus' room.

I climbed one of the trees, hopped on to one balcony, then hopped a couple more, until I reached Atticus' balcony.

Looking inside the large glass doors, I couldn't see anyone.

Maybe I had made a mistake about which room was Atticus'.

So, I checked each of the rooms.

No one was in any of the rooms.

"Darn it!" I shouted. "Class must have started. Crowler's gonna hold me back for sure."

Hopping on to the tree, I finally noticed something that made my heart nearly stop.

Standing on a large branch, staring at the world as it stretched out in front of me, I finally got a good look at the sky.

Up until this point, I was completely focused on my search for my friends, I hadn't given it enough thought. But what I saw was a completely gray sky. No sun, no moon, no clouds. Just... gray, as far as the eye could see.

This couldn't be good.

* * *

Rushing through the school building, running at the fastest pace I could, I got to the class room in record time.

When I entered, once again, I saw nobody.

My knees gave out.

"What is going on?" I muttered. "Winged Kuriboh, you have any ideas?"

But Kuriboh didn't appear. I called out to my other Duel Spirits, but none of them arrived either.

All I could do was sit there, on my knees, until I mustered enough strength to stand back up and shoot off through the halls, praying I'd slam into somebody.

* * *

Despite my best efforts, I couldn't find anybody, and before long, my body started to feel exhausted. I couldn't tell whether or not it was actually night, but seeing as I was physically and mentally exhausted, I decided for the time being to go to sleep.

I entered my cabin room. It was empty like earlier.

I sat down on my bed, sighing to myself, "Just like when I was a kid."

For a time that I can only guess amounted to a couple hours, I tried in vain to sleep.

Y'know how they say you always miss something when it's gone? This was how I felt about things like Syrus mumbling in his sleep and Hassleberry snoring. If I woke up for any reason in the middle of the night, those two things would always be my major hurdle in going back to sleep. But now, this room was deafeningly quiet.

"Too uncomfortable." I groaned, sitting up.

You know who had a comfortable bed that you could easily pass out on? Alexis!

I made my way to her room and hoped that I would see her. Maybe this was all just some weird dream I was having. Maybe I was scared of getting married one day, and this is how it would feel. My subconscious mind was probably just thinking about that.

I would go in there, Alexis would be waiting on the bed, and I'd realize we were rushing into things, leaving everyone else behind.

But that wasn't the case. Alexis' room was as barren as every other room I'd been in.

"Wow..." I muttered to myself again. "I never realized just... how big this room actually is. Maybe a few fixtures will make it feel more like home."

* * *

An hour later, I managed to get everything I needed. I was lying down in my fiancee's bed, with pillows from Syrus and Hassleberry's bed. On top of me were blankets from the beds of Chazz, Bastion, Blair, Marcel, Atticus, Jasmine, Mindy, even Crowler's.

When I was a child, my parents were always gone at work. But even then, I could always count on them coming home at night. Even if they didn't, they'd be home eventually. But this wasn't like my childhood. My parents weren't going to just show up. And my friends? They were nowhere to be found.

I was packed under so many blankets. So why did I feel so cold?

* * *

When I woke up, I decided to sneak into the Ra Yellow Dining Hall. I figured there would be two outcomes.

The first, everyone left Academy Island, returned last night and would catch me stealing food. Bastion would come up and say he had invited me, bailing me out of another situation.

The second, everyone was still gone, but I'd get some good grub.

Unfortunately, neither options came to pass.

In the end, I was still alone. I made myself a small bowl of curry. But it didn't compare to the number of times I had Sartyr's curry. I wasn't in Ra Yellow, but every time Bastion, Marcel or another Ra would invite me over, I'd always make sure to get a bowl, no matter what else I was having. The guy might not be the greatest Duelist, but Sartyr's cooking was top marks.

While sitting at the table, which was much larger than Slifer's, I couldn't help but be reminded of my situation, despite trying to enjoy my meal. This, of course, caused me to get a second helping, to drown my sorrows.

While I was eating, I pulled out my deck and placed a few cards to my side. My Duel Spirits hadn't once talked to me since I woke up on this lifeless island. This ultimately made for a lonely meal. That's why I tried to fake some conversation.

"Thanks again for inviting us here, Bastion." I said, looking at my Bubbleman card. "Chumley, I can't believe you came here just to enjoy a meal with us. I mean, I know it's not grilled cheese, but it's pretty good, huh?"

No answer. Yeah, I knew Clayman wouldn't answer.

"So, Blair, you and Marcel eat here all the time. What's your opinion on the food?"

No answer from Burstinatrix or Avian.

"What's that, Chazz? No! I'm not crazy!"

Sparkman, just like the other cards, wasn't talking.

I turned to look at Wildheart and Flame Wingman.

"Yeah, you're right, Sy, Hassleberry." I muttered. "My cards can't replace you guys."

I began flipping through more of my deck. Winged Kuriboh, Aquaos, Flick, Neos... None would appear.

I ended up stopping when I found Skyscraper 2 - Hero City. Chumley had made this card specifically for me. It helped me beat that loony Franz guy trying to use The Winged Dragon of Ra.

"This just made things worse." I muttered to myself.

* * *

After a rather unhealthy breakfast, I made my way to the school building. This was far from my favorite place, but the past year, I always made sure to get here on time every morning. Heck, with Mr. Stein gone, I had no classes that I wanted to cut or sleep through. That was... all thanks to wanting to graduate...

Anyway, once I ducked in to make sure classes weren't being held, and this whole thing wasn't a massive prank against a senior, I headed for my real target. The Chancellor's Office. I had tried the cell phone Zane sent me, only to get no signal. But I was certain the Chancellor's Office would have some way to contact the outside world in case of an emergency.

On my way, I picked up a fire hydrant. I needed some way to get in if the door was locked. And behold! The door WAS locked. Nothing could be easy, could it? Still, at that point, I was hoping Crowler would be on the other side of the door and when I busted my way in, he'd yell and scold me for my reckless behavior.

I wasn't that lucky.

After I busted the knob, seeing no one was there, I went to the phone. No dial tone. Of course! I tried my cell phone again. Maybe something was buggy last night. Still nothing.

Tossing my phone on the ground in anger, I managed to break it. There goes any chance of someone calling me.

But then...

"Jaden..."

A weak voice called out to me!

I rushed out of the office, looked down both sides of the hall and saw nothing. I chose one side and ran frantically down the hall.

This made me reminisce of the time I asked Zane what fiancee meant, he froze up and I crashed into Crowler on the way out of the area. No one to crash into this time.

I found nobody in my search.

* * *

My next destination was the docks. I've hijacked some of the speedboats before. It wouldn't be hard to do it again. Even if there was only one, and even if that one could only get me as far as that Admiral's Underwater Academy, I'd take it. Okay, so the guy basically kidnapped me, but even he'd have to have some shred of dignity to let me contact the mainland if I told him everyone on Academy Island disappeared.

On my way, I imagined the case I'd make.

* * *

"Oh, no." The Admiral would say. "Y'ar not gettin' away agen."

"It's true!" I'd yelled, furiously. "Would I come here if this wasn't the truth?"

"Y'ar be making a point." The Admiral would say.

"Look, we'll make another deal." I'd try to persuade him. "We'll take a sub to Academy Island. You can look around. If everything is how it should be, I'll graduate under your Academy's name. If not, we come back here, contact the mainland and get someone to investigate this matter."

"Ye have a deal!" The Admiral would accept.

Then we'd take a submarine to Academy Island, and since the world hates me, everyone would be there. Everything would be fine. I'd be forced into the Pro League, promoting the Admiral's Academy, but everyone would be fine. And if everyone was still missing, we'd go back, contact someone and get some major investigation going down on the island.

Hey, I might even be able to work with Yugi Muto. I've heard he helped free people who were missing before.

* * *

Things never work out as planned though. There were no speedboats. Ultimately, I settled for turning on the Lighthouse and seeing if that could call boats here.

So, of course, that meant the Lighthouse wouldn't work!

Feeling a sense of defeat, I sat down at the dock. This is where Alexis would always go to talk to Zane. Where Chazz threw Bastion's cards into the ocean. Where Chazz had kissed Alexis.

Was there really no place on this island that didn't remind me of how alone I was?

* * *

I searched the forest after that. Okay, so no humans were around, but maybe I could come across Wheeler and his buddies. He'd saved me before. He could save me again.

You see where this is headed. No monkeys. No fish. There weren't even any bugs as far as I could see.

"WHAT IS GOING ON!?" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

Usually this would result in a flock of birds flying out of the tree. Not today.

It hit me soon after. The Abandoned Dorm! Alexis' brother had gone missing there when he first came to Duel Academy. Some other students too! Maybe the powers that took Atticus had grown unstable and taken everyone else. And now a villain I would have to defeat would be waiting there for me to defeat them, freeing the world from evil once and for all!

Sounds horrifying, doesn't it? Yeah, to most people. But something like that was not only normal to me at this point, but it was a source of hope.

* * *

No, what horrified me was that the Abandoned Dorm was nowhere to be found.

"Maybe it did take everyone." I thought to myself. "Maybe after absorbing everyone's soul, it went to another dimension."

I was incredibly desperate at this point.

"Jaden..."

There was that weak voice again. It sounded close, but I couldn't locate the origin of it no matter where I ran.

"STOP MESSING WITH ME!" I shouted.

* * *

It felt like the time for lunch. Okay, I couldn't tell with this gray sky over the island. I also didn't know if it was actually lunch time, or if my stomach was just empty. Lately, my eating habits had become better. I wouldn't want to chow down until classes let out for lunch. Waiting to eat in Alexis' room got my stomach on a schedule.

...I really did owe a lot to her. And yet I let her...

Shaking that thought out of my head before it formed, I made my way to the cafeteria and grabbed a sandwich. It wasn't the eggwich.

"Oh, shoot!" I yelled loudly. "It seems like I didn't get the eggwich! Well, since no one else is around, I guess I'll just try another one."

I went through fifty sandwiches, hoping someone would jump out and scold me for wasting so much food and trying to take an unfair advantage above the other students.

Whatever happened, this confirmed it was no prank. Miss Dorothy would never let me get away with something like this.

"Well, I guess I can enjoy the eggwich." I sighed to myself.

I sat myself down at one of the tables, took a bite and swallowed.

It wasn't terrible, but the eggwich just didn't taste right.

* * *

After I inhaled the eggwich, I made my way to the Card Shop. I knew it would be useless, but I honestly wanted to just go there, find Dorothy and Sheppard and tell them how I took the eggwich and wasted the rest of the food. The two were like second parents to me at this point. I really just wanted to see someone.

It goes without saying that they weren't there. But I found something interesting there. Or, rather, I didn't find something there and THAT was what interested me.

There were no cards anywhere. No packs, no singles, no cards people discarded as junk. I even looked for that Alice doll. Nothing!

"I get it." I said, nodding to myself. "I was somehow sent to the past. No one is here because this place hasn't officially opened. Yeah. That's it."

Yeah, I know. That doesn't account for the fact food was there. I wanted so badly to deny the truth.

Look, I don't know what you're going through, but no matter how lonely you feel, I'll tell you right now. You aren't alone. I'm not about to feed you a cliche'd line like "I'm here and I care about you". That's nice, that's sweet and all. But it doesn't mean anything coming from someone who hasn't met you. That same line would apply to thieves and murderers. Once that clicks, you realize that line is meaningless dribble people say in order to look good.

And naturally, I can't tell if you really DON'T have anyone to turn to. But while I won't argue semantics with you, there IS a difference between having no one and being truly alone. We're creatures that want some form of contact with other beings. Even if we can't approach someone else, there's this strange comforting feeling knowing that you aren't the only person in existence.

But there I was. Seemingly the only living being out there. Heck, for all I knew, I could go dig up a grave that was dug last week and STILL not find a dead body. Thinking about it, that would probably be the case.

I make no exaggeration when I say this was the single most horrific experience of my life. I was alone in the world.

* * *

Seeing nothing else I could possibly do, I dragged my body to my room. But realizing that I was starting to smell, I stopped by Blair's room, tossed my dirty clothes into the washer and took a little dip in the bath.

"Ah, nice and warm..." I moaned as I sunk in.

That's when it struck me.

"THE HOT SPRINGS!" I shouted.

I shot out of the room, across the island and to the hot springs, stopping only to grab a towel. Hey, I was alone on the island. And if someone saw me borderline streaking, I'd welcome it at this point.

During my first year, the hot springs had transported Syrus, Chumley, Chazz and myself to the Spirit World. I dueled Kaibaman there! He might know something!

* * *

I got to the hot springs and made my way in. A nice leisurely dip in the hot springs, interrupted by Kaibaman talking to me. I HAD left on Duel Monster's Spirit Day. Maybe that had something to do with things.

I waited hours. Nothing.

* * *

Dinner was next. This time, I decided to eat at the Slifer Dorms. Yeah. Sitting outside, eating a nice snack. It was pretty nice. Or, would have been, if my situation was better.

"What am I doing?" I muttered to myself. "I should be able to find my friends."

There's an order to these things! Something stupid happens, me and my friends find out about it, we look into things, they get taken by the villain and I save everyone. That's how things always go!

"That's how this was supposed to go!" I yelled.

My voice was just swallowed up by the wind.

* * *

Another night of sleeping in Alexis' bed, with borrowed pillows and blankets. Another near-sleepless night.

* * *

I woke up the next day, wiped the dried drool from below my eyes and made my way to another day of searching.

It was at this point that everything honestly began to seem fruitless. The past couple "days", I had some hope that maybe it was an extended vacation. But now it was becoming increasingly clear that this wasn't the case.

Alright, I probably knew all along, deep down inside of me, that there was no one else left. I just didn't want to admit to myself.

Thankfully, what little sleep I got gave me an idea.

So I couldn't find Kaibaman. Big deal. He wasn't the only Duel Spirit I had loyalty from. I had the Gravekeepers. They'd probably help. I mean, c'mon. Even if they were going to sacrifice my friends before, they liked me enough to give me that Spirit Medallion, and let me go.

I went back to my cabin to retrieve the Spirit Medallion, planning to try to use it at those ruins to get back to the Gravekeepers.

* * *

In my cabin, I looked in the desk, where I'd last remembered storing the dang Medallion. It wasn't there.

"Alright, don't freak, Jaden." I told myself.

I must have torn the cabin apart looking for it, to no avail.

"The Medallion is gone..." I muttered to myself, taking a seat on my bed. "The Medallion is gone, everyone is missing, including animals and the sky is dark."

Then it dawned on me.

"Camula!

I rushed out of my room.

"Alright, Camula! I know you've taken over the world, blocked out the sun and stole my Medallion!" I cried out. "Well you haven't won yet! I'm still here! So let's duel! You beat me, you can turn me into a vampire! If I beat you, you'll give me one of my friends back!"

I waited for an answer. How badly I wanted Camula to just float down from a tree and chuckle her evil laugh, congratulating me on figuring it all out, before dueling me for the sake of everyone's souls.

Even my enemies weren't showing up.

Yeah. Everyone really was gone.

* * *

Because of my search for the Medallion, I lost a lot of time. My stomach already hungered for food. Given how much time had passed since I woke up, this would be my lunch.

If I was going to go to the ruins, it would definitely take another day, round trip. I made sure to pack myself some extra rations for dinner, breakfast and, assuming I slept late, a lunch.

Every so often, Alexis and I would double date with a guy Mindy or Jasmine was interested in. The first couple times, I kinda grossed out the girls and their date with my eating habits. So, I'd started tempering myself. Eating smaller portions, smaller bites, swallowing before talking. So I was able to get by on smaller meals than the ones I'd been eating my past couple years.

...I really missed Alexis.

* * *

After loading up a backpack with food, I began my trek.

During my first year, I'd walked to the ruins with Banner, Syrus, Alexis and Chumley. We had some nice chats at that time. However, this time, with only myself and the waves to make any sounds, everything was miserable.

All I could think about as I made my way to the ruins was all the people I'd lost.

It started innocently enough. I happened to remember a time I caught Jim digging around some ruins on the island. You get the connection, right? And he told me about the voices of the fossils. That was pretty fun.

But, of course, when you're suffering, your mind just loves to make you feel worse and worse!

Jesse had taught me a lot about Duel Spirits. Like how destroying a card destroyed the spirit that was attached to it. Yeah. Jesse was a lot more knowledgeable about spirits than I was. He should have been the one who went through the portal. Not me. He'd have been out of here by now.

Not everything I was taught was good though. Zane painfully spelled out how terrible the world of professional dueling really was. Heck, it probably wasn't just dueling. Still, it did make me think.

Of course, after I beat him, my next big duel was against Aster. He had taught me a lot about needing to step up my game. Even if he did go on and on about destiny.

Speaking of destiny, was this what Sartorius' warning was about? Me dying alone in this empty world?! C'mon, Sartorius, couldn't you have been more honest about it?!

Hey, Bastion, can you hear me? You're good with astrophysics and things like that. You can open a portal and get me out of here, right? Please? You've always been the greatest scientist I know.

I'm really gonna die here, huh?

Well, if that's the case, Chumley, I'll give you all my food related cards if you immortalize me as a card.

Blair, you're gonna have to be Duel Academy's hero after Chazz and the others graduate. Marcel, take good care of her.

Axel, I don't know if what Atticus said about Viper is entirely true, but whether he was a good guy or not, I'm sorry this all happened because of me.

And while I'm apologizing, I'm sorry I couldn't get Alexis back, Atticus.

Crowler, you were right. I really shouldn't have gone in.

No! I can't give up yet! I can hear Chazz getting ready to pummel my spirit!

Besides, I'm not the only one here. Hassleberry's entered the portal too. I'm sure the son of Sargent Hassleberry already has a plan to fix this!

And Syrus! I can't die until I get him and Dark Magician Girl together. The little guy looks up to me. He's always been my best friend, and a reason to keep going strong, no matter what.

Then there's Alexis. She was kidnapped because of me. I couldn't just give up. Not after she gave me a reason to finally get my act together.

That's when realization struck.

"How could it be so cliche...?" I asked myself.

All the times I've dueled, against that Shadow Duelist, against Jinzo, against the Shadow Riders, Kagemaru and the Sacred Beasts, against the Society of Light... I hadn't been saving anyone. I was just repaying them for saving me from loneliness.

Cliche as it was, it helped to reinvigorate my spirit, to finally get to the ruins.

* * *

But when I finally got there, nothing was out of the ordinary. I waited for hours, even eating my dinner there. Nothing!

This was supposed to be the place that could finally save me! Save the world! This was the only hope I had left!

WHY?! Why was I stuck on this island? Was this Yubel's doing?! Or was it because I rushed into that portal? In my attempt to save Alexis, did I doom the world?

After suffering a breakdown, I conceded defeat. At this point, all I could was sleep.

I went inside the ruins for some sleep, leaving my food and backpack outside. They would be there when I woke up. After all, who would take them?

The ruins were hard, more lumpy than any other surface I'd ever slept on. But anything beat sleeping directly under that cold, lifeless sky. So, holding my legs against my body, I leaned against a wall, and let my exhaustion take me.

* * *

Author's Note: Ah, the existential horror chapter. A fun one. ...Yeah.

This was a really big experiment for me. After all, it's a chapter that is just Jaden on his own. I mean, I know there were times he was on his own before, but now it's just Jaden playing off himself. No one to talk to, not even his spirits. And aside from the one scene where Jaden imagines the Admiral, no other characters appeared in this chapter, except the mysterious voice, but watch that turn out to be Jaden himself too!

On another topic, existential crisises! Truly fun things. I've had one. Heck, I actually realized a little bit before working on this Author's Note that this chapter is actually unintentionally based off the cause of my existential crisis.

Long story short, I had a nightmare where I was fighting aliens trying to conquer the world. Too much Doctor Who, I guess. Anyway, I won. But everyone on Earth was dead, except me. And the sun was burnt out. So I was the last human on a dying Earth. Yippee!

Now, that nightmare kept me up for a bit. To calm myself down enough to go to sleep, I began thinking of how one day, the sun will go supernova anyway, and humans might be able to survive that. But that will eventually lead to the Heat Death of the Universe, if you go down that route long enough. ...Yes, the sun going supernova and the HEAT DEATH OF THE UNIVERSE! Not exactly things that calm a person down.

This led me to question my own existence. Up until then, I figured, if I could leave a good enough legacy behind, my life wouldn't be meaningless after I die. But if the world is destroyed, humans die out and the universe itself ends, eventually, everything I did would be meaningless anyway. No proof I ever existed.

The one bright side is this made me realize... something was wrong. I never used to worry about this stuff. Oh, sure, a nice doomsday prophecy would get to me, but not something like the universe itself slowly dying. So, I ended up looking back on my life, trying to figure out what went wrong, and slowly, very slowly, making my way back to who I used to be.

Eventually, I got almost all the way there, around Chapter 4 of Competing for Love. I still have a slip up now and then, but whatever. I do my best. I'm still working at it.

I think the reason I was so worried about leaving my mark on the world was because I was pretty much just living by going through the motions. I had all but given up on things like dreams and all that jazz. So, if anyone out there is going through an existential crisis, the best advice I can give is, I was able to finally come back to not worrying about that by embracing who I really am, and not putting up any front. Just enjoying the life I've been given is enough for me. I don't know if it'll help anyone out there, but, who knows.

And as for why I gave up on life... Well, I'll get into that some other time.

Next chapter should be a little less horrific. Still gonna be unnerving though!


	5. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Previously, a bunch of friends got together for Duel Monsters-oween, a demon attacked and one of the friends found himself all alone in an empty, gray world and fell into despair. Time for more despair!

But before that time, it's everyone's favorite time! The time where, no matter the horrors going on in the story, I lighten the mood by responding to the reviews I've received since last chapter!

Scarlet: Thanks! I've gone on before about how I feel the stuff with Jaden's parents was just in there to give him Daddy Issues and then never explored, so I like to build on that when I can. As for that guy, nah. I try to stick to Anime Only stuff. Might give him a cameo though, since I've done similar things for my old OCs in Missing You. Also, I mentioned Reggie? I don't recall that. If I did though, it was probably Reginald Van Howell III, from "Champion or Chazz-Been?", a.k.a Gokaido.

That's definitely not the intention I had, but it is a neat interpretation.

Other than Jaden (and Yubelexis, obviously), Syrus and Hassleberry went into the portal. Just them, as far as Jaden and the readers know. Of course, Jaden was out for awhile, so between chapters, others could have gone in.

Well, I could tell you, but that would spoil the fun!

LetItFlow: Thanks! That's just the reaction I wanted. As for what kind of world Jaden's in? Um... a world of s'mores. S'more suffering! But, in all seriousness, the answer will be coming up relatively soon.

With that's out of the way... Like last chapter, this one has a special designation, in spite of the chapters only being numbered this time around. This time it's "The Mysterious Stranger". Prepare for horror, those who know where that's from.

* * *

I didn't want to wake up. I would have much preferred staying asleep. In my dreams, there was at least purpose to things. Why was I even bothering to wake up to a world where I was trapped on an island, no way to return home, with nobody to talk to. No, sleep was the better option.

Unfortunately, my body hurt from the uncomfortable combination of area and position I'd slept in and refused to do it any longer.

"Just give out already then..." I muttered groggily.

Pulling myself out of the ruins, I looked around. The sky was still a sunless gray, instead of dark green that three suns somehow made. The ground was a mixture of the stone ruins and the grass, instead of a world of sand.

"Just like I thought..." I sighed in defeat. "I'm the only one left."

I slowly lifted my body into a standing position. My legs were pained, but they could probably hold out long enough to get to the school building.

I looked for my backpack. I figured I needed a little more energy to get myself that far.

To my utter shock, my backpack wasn't where I'd left it! I had left it near the ruins, with my container from dinner next to it, while my meals for breakfast and lunch were inside. But now, it was in the grassy area near the ruins, flattened out! My food was nowhere to be found either.

Tears formed in my eyes. And for the first time since I'd found myself here, they were tears of joy!

I took off running.

I hadn't seen another creature since I found myself in this lifeless world. There was no way a bear could have stolen that food. Even if one was around, it wouldn't have left my backpack in tact.

I wasn't the last one left! There was another person here!

* * *

When I woke up, I felt like I could barely take another step. But with the knowledge I wasn't the only one left, my spirit was reinvigorated again! Someone else was out there. Okay, so I didn't know if this person was a friend or foe, but all that matter at this point was I could possibly find an answer. If the person who stole my food was an enemy, I'd beat them and this whole world would disappear, restored back to it's usual state of bright sunshine, with my friends all around. If the person was a friend, or heck, even someone neutral, I'd at least have someone I could talk to about this. They might even have a clue about how this happened!

Every couple feet, I'd stop and do my best to listen for any strange noises. With all the bugs gone with the rest of the lives here, the only sounds would be the wind, any sound I'd make, and the food thief!

So, making out the rustling of grass and the chomping of my eggwiches, I delved deep into the forest, following those sounds as they got louder and louder.

* * *

After I don't know or care how long, I saw someone. An honest to goodness living being besides myself in this terrible world! WHEW!

As I made my way closer, I got a better look. The thief was a boy. He looked about Syrus' height, but he was probably a few years younger than us. His hair was purple and cut short, and his eyes were an unusual shade of green.

I should have realized it then.

I was so excited to see another human. Heck, maybe he was a just a humanoid Duel Monster, like one of the Gravekeepers. But nothing like that mattered! At this point, anyone would do, even if they were an enemy!

"Hey, you!" I called out, as the boy was about to take another bite of my eggwich.

"Ah!" The boy shouted, dropping the eggwich and scurrying to a tree.

"Whoa, chill out, bro." I said, walking over. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

The boy gulped. Clearly, he didn't trust me yet.

"When I woke up, I noticed my food was gone." I explained.

"I'm sorry." The boy said, bowing his head again and again. "I didn't know it was your food. I thought someone left it there."

"It's fine, dude." I said, with a light chuckle. "I'm just happy to see you."

The boy looked up at me, confused, "You know me?"

"No." I said, scratching the back of my head. "I don't recall ever meeting you. I'm just glad to see someone else! I thought I was the only person left on the planet!"

"Me too!" The boy shouted in glee.

"You wouldn't know what happened here, would you?" I asked.

The boy just shook his head. "Nothing, sorry."

I looked the boy up and down. ...No, not like that! I was nearly a legal adult! This boy looked like he was barely hitting puberty. But his clothes looked weird. A purple shirt and black shorts. That didn't look like any Academy-issued uniform I ever saw.

"So, how long have you been here?" I asked.

"I'm not sure..." The boy said with a nervous chuckle, while pointing to the gray sky. "But if I had to guess, not even a week. At least, I haven't slept seven times yet."

"So, did you go to the Academy too?" I continued my interrogation.

"The Academy?" The boy tilted his head.

"Ya know, Duel Academy?" I said. "Prep school where they teach you how to play a card game so you can go on to play it professionally? Ringing any bells?"

"Not at all." The boy shook his head. "Like I said, I just woke up here one day."

I rubbed my temples.

"I should have guessed." I said, complaining to myself, not the boy. "This place does draw in the strange, mysterious stuff."

"What are y-" The boy began, before a loud sound interrupted him.

I began looking around.

"Alright!" I exclaimed. "Here comes the villain to explain why they trapped us here!"

"Actually..." The boy groaned. "That was my stomach... I'm still hungry."

I looked over at the boy in shock, before bursting out laughing.

"Thanks, kid." I said. "I needed that. Anyway, I know a place where you can get some good grub."

"Really?" The boy asked.

"Well, that's where I got the food you stole from me." I explained.

"Sorry." The boy said, bowing his whole body this time, rather than just his head. "I was just really hungry, and I haven't seen anyone else around, so I thought the backpack was abandoned an-"

"Calm down, dude." I said. "Look, I'm starving too. We can talk more when we get some food in us. It's not far from here."

I held out my hand to help the boy up.

"Thanks, Mister..." The boy waited for my name.

"It's Jaden." I said. "Just Jaden. No Mister, no Sir, maybe a 'Greatest Duelist Ever' in front, but nothing formal."

"Thanks, Jaden." The boy said, grabbing my hand. After I lifted him to his feet, the boy introduced himself. "You can call me Haoh."

"Haoh?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

As I looked at the boy more, he seemed familiar. And not in the same way Jesse did. Jesse reminded me of myself. But this boy... I couldn't place it. Because I was an idiot!

"It feels nice." The boy said.

"Hm?" I mumbled. "What does?"

"Touching another person again." The boy said.

That's when I noticed we were still holding hands.

 _'So that's what the warm feeling I felt was.'_ I thought. Idiot!

* * *

After that, I led Haoh back to Duel Academy, through the halls and to the cafeteria. Unfortunately, we didn't talk much on the way, likely because we were both starving. Why we didn't just sit in the forest and eat... I don't know. I blame me being an idiot, but I have no clue why Haoh didn't suggest it. Well, I guess I have a clue, but it's only the kind of thing I would get in hindsight.

But once we filled our stomachs, we got to actually talking.

"So, you don't know anything?" Haoh asked.

"Nope." I said.

"Well, what's the last thing you remember before you got here?" Haoh asked.

My face darkened.

"Jaden?" Haoh asked. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah." I said. "Well, the long and short of it is that my girlfriend got kidnapped, so I chased after the kidnapper. When I woke up, I was here."

"That's all?" Haoh asked. "You have to be leaving something out."

"Fine." I sighed. "This monster named Yubel took over my girlfriend. She opened this portal, and my best friends, Syrus Truesdale and Tyranno Hassleberry, jumped in after her. After that, I suddenly found myself here. It's the same place, but... something is definitely different. The world I'm from has a blue sky, not the gray abyss we've been looking at."

"Blue sky?" Haoh asked. "That's funny. The world I'm from has a purple sky."

Purple?! Okay, I'm not smart. I can live with this fact. But tell me, outside of places where the Aurora Borealis is common, is there any place where the sky regularly appears purple? So, Haoh WAS a Duel Monster! Or this was some weird world-between-worlds and he was from another dimension entirely. Hey, at this point, I wasn't about to write off anything.

"Well, guess we're from different worlds then." I said. "Still, we both ended up here, so until we can find a way back to our homes, we're buddies!"

"Sounds good!" Haoh said, with a bright smile on his face.

That was when something struck me.

"How'd you end up here?" I asked.

"I dunno." Haoh shrugged. "One night I went to sleep, and the next time I woke up, I was here."

"Ah, okay." I said, breathing a sigh of relief. "For a minute, I thought you might be me from another world, and your girlfriend got kidnapped, and you chased her through a portal too. Heh."

Haoh looked at me with an odd expression, before deciding I was joking and laughing with me.

"So, where do we start, chief?" Haoh asked.

"Chief?" I asked.

"Well, you seem to know this island better than I do." Haoh said. "At least, aside from the forest, and maybe even that. So, you're in charge."

"Darn, I was hoping you'd take the lead." I said. "Truth is, I've burned out all my ideas. I tried contacting anybody outside the island, I tried finding a boat, I even tried calling out to whatever villain trapped me here. I've got nothing to show for it."

"Then, if I can ask a favor?" Haoh asked.

"Sure." I said.

"It won't help us get out of here... probably, but I've really been needing a good bath." Haoh said, blushing meekishly.

"A bath, huh?" To Blair's room we will go!

* * *

I led Haoh to the Red Dorm, where Blair's door was still wide open, pointed Haoh to go in, and then went over to Alexis' room to take my own shower. Hey, Haoh might have been on to something with that "probably". Maybe whoever locked us here just wanted us to scrub REALLY hard. Thankfully, I've gotten into the habit of keeping an extra pair of clothes in Alexis' room, in the always likely event I end up spilling something on myself.

So, once I had showered and changed, I headed back to my room. Haoh was gonna need his own change of clothes, after all. Mine would probably be a little big on him, but it's not like I could just grab one of Syrus' shirts. Sure, he eventually moved back to Slifer to stay with me and Hassleberry, after being placed in Obelisk Blue early in the year, for defeating Axel. He decided to move back after Jesse left and Hassleberry and me had an opening. I had missed him anyway, so this was pretty good. But I wasn't just going to hand over Syrus' clothes without his permission. Okay, maybe if I didn't have any of my own clean clothes, but I had been getting better about doing laundry.

"Haoh!" I shouted, waving an arm into Blair's room. "I've got some clothes if you need them!"

"No worries, Jaden." I heard Haoh call. "I've got some!"

What?

Haoh walked out in some of Blair's clothes.

"What was you doing?!" I shouted.

"Oh, don't worry." Haoh said. "They're a pretty good fit."

"They belong to someone else." I said. "I actually know Blair pretty well. I mean, I don't think she'll mind me lending out her bathroom, given our circumstances, but her clothes are a different story! That's personal, dude!"

Haoh merely pouted.

"But I don't have any other clothes." Haoh said.

"You can borrow some of mine." I said, holding out the clothes I'd grabbed for him.

Haoh blushed a very bright red.

"B-Bu-Bu-Bu-But..." Haoh said, trying to regain his composure. "Your clothes are a little big for me, aren't they?"

I would have argued he hadn't tried them on, but the height difference between us said it all.

"Fine." I said. "Just don't complain to me if Blair kills you."

"I don't think that'll happen." Haoh said, before quickly motioning to the sky.

Right... For a minute, I was finally able to get my mind off the situation at hand.

Noticing my sudden change from relatively happy to depressed, Haoh placed a hand on my back.

"Hey, don't worry." Haoh said, rubbing my back, reassuringly. "You'll find your friends again. I'm sure of it!"

"Yeah, I know I will." I said. "Still, I wish I had some sort of clue as to what happened. Is this even my world or a different one? I've been asking myself that question for awhile now."

"I don't know." Haoh said, walking over and sitting down on one of the steps. "But I do know this is nothing like the world I'm from."

"Your world?" I asked.

I tossed my clothes into my room and sat down on the stairs, next to Haoh.

"It's this amazing kingdom." Haoh said.

"A kingdom, huh?" I asked. "So, are you like a Prince or something?"

"Huh?" Haoh asked, blushing. "No, nothing so royal. But I do know one. He's pretty cool. I'm sure if he were here, he'd get us out of this in no time."

"Well, right now, we're all each other's got!" I said, smiling. "So, if I ever want to see my friends again, and if you wanna see your Prince buddy, we need to get ourselves out of here!"

"Jaden..." A voice called from the distance.

My eyes widened in shock. Again?

"Did you hear that?" I asked.

"Hear what?" Haoh asked. "You saying we need to get out of here."

"Jaden?" The voice called again.

"No." I said. "Uh... Tell you what, wait right here for a minute. I need to go look into something."

Once again, I ran off in the direction I thought I'd heard the mysterious voice come from. Of course, once again, despite having found someone else in this world, no matter how far I ran, I couldn't find whoever was calling for me.

* * *

By the time I got back to the Slifer Cabins, I felt like it was getting late. I have to admit, with Haoh around, it was easier to keep track of time. When you're on your own, without any way of telling the time, you begin to question if what felt like five minutes actually was five minutes, or was really two hours and twenty minutes. That said, when I got back, Haoh had disappeared.

"Haoh?!" I shouted. "HAOH!"

"In here!" I heard his voice shout from the Slifer Mess Hall.

Whew! Good. For a minute, I thought I'd lost him now too. Don't do that to me, man!

Haoh walked out, holding two plates of noodles.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Haoh said. "I figured it was almost time for dinner, so while you were gone, I made us something to eat really quick."

Haoh passed me one of the plates and went back to the steps, to eat his plate.

"It's not the healthiest food, but I gotta make sure my leader eats." Haoh said.

"I'm a leader now?" I asked, walking over to the steps and eating alongside Haoh.

"It's not that tasty, huh?" Haoh asked.

"Does it matter?" I asked, shoveling the stuff into my mouth. "Guy's gotta eat."

Haoh looked at me and laughed. I couldn't help but smile myself. It was nice to have some company after who knows how many days of being on my own.

* * *

After discussing ideas on why we were here, including crazy things like aliens putting us under simulations (with me arguing that the Neo-Spacians wouldn't do that) or that demons from the depths of the abyss had sacrificed our souls and this was some sort of Purgatory-like dimension, we headed off for bed. I offered Haoh my bed, while I crashed in Lex's room again.

However, around... oh... I'll say Midnight because that sounds like a nice, round time, Haoh knocked on the door.

"Jaden!"

I'm sorry. Jaden's in beddy-bye land right now. He will return your shout at what he believes to be 6:30 AM, when he wakes up.

"You gotta see this!" Haoh shouted.

Ugh! Fine! I'm up!

I got out of Alexis' bed and opened the door.

"What is it?!" I shouted, annoyed that my sleep was interrupted. "This had better be good. I was about to beat Yugi Muto."

"Sorry!" Haoh said, bowing his head. "But look!"

Haoh pointed to the sky. I looked up. Was it a bird? A plane? No! It was stars! There wasn't any moon, or clouds, and the sky itself was still the dull gray color, but bright, white stars were shining in the sky!

"You're kidding me!" I shouted. a chuckle mixing with my words.

"You didn't tell me there were still stars outside!" Haoh shouted, happily.

"I didn't know myself!" I said.

I admit, I might have just not been out at the right time, but I wanted to believe that, somehow, I'd managed to take a step closer to finding my friends.

"This is amazing!" Haoh shouted, dancing around happily.

"You're telling me..." I muttered, stepping out and staring in confusion at the sky.

"You know what we should do?" Haoh asked.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Sleep under the stars!" Haoh said. "I mean, I've always slept under a tree since arriving here. Maybe the starlight will take us back home, or at least to where your friends are!"

Y'know, I don't know if I was desperate, overly confident now that I had a friend, or just really tired, but that sounded like a great idea at the time.

Haoh and I each grabbed a pillow from my room and laid on the hard ground, staring up at the sky.

"It's beautiful." Haoh said.

"The first change I've seen in awhile." I said, nodding my head.

"You know, Jaden, if I had to be trapped here with anyone, I'm glad it's you." Haoh said, before turning to smile at me.

"Huh?" Was my initial response. "What about your friends?"

"Well, I guess that's obvious." Haoh said. "But you know what I mean. I feel like you and I can break the mysteries of this world and return to our real lives!"

"Yeah, you have a point." I said, stretching out.

Haoh continued to go on and on, but I ended up drifting off. The stars had given me a sense of well being I hadn't felt in days. Plus, Haoh was there, letting me know someone else would be there when I woke up.

* * *

So, the next morning, when Haoh and the pillow he was lying on were gone, I freaked out a bit.

"Hey! Haoh! Where are you?" I shouted.

Okay, I'm usually not this clingy. But I wanted to make sure I hadn't just dreamed this kid up. I mean, I had been talking to my cards the other day. ...Okay, I do that all the time, but that's when their spirits can appear. I had just been talking to pieces of cardboard like they were Syrus or Bastion.

Thankfully, I noticed my bedroom door was wide open.

I ran in, and found Haoh examining my deck.

"Haoh, thank goodness." I sighed.

"Ah!" Haoh shouted, when he noticed me. He then quickly shoved my cards back on the desk, before bowing his head over and over. "Sorry! I wasn't trying to go through your things or anything!"

"Chillax, dude." I said. "It's not like I'm mad. But what were you doing?"

"I thought I heard the cards talking to me." Haoh said.

"Talking to you?" I asked. Haoh could hear spirits too? ...Wait, HE could hear my cards, when I couldn't hear them at this point?

"By the way, what are these things?" Haoh asked. "They don't look like they'd make good solitaire cards. The stars only go up to 12."

"You've never heard of Duel Monsters?" I asked.

Haoh stared at me with the closest thing I've seen to a puppy dog face not done by 9-year old.

* * *

I ended up spending our walk to the Academy's Cafeteria explaining the basics of Duel Monsters to Haoh.

"That sounds awesome!" Haoh shouted, as we ate.

"It doesn't just SOUND awesome, it IS awesome!" I joked.

"Could you teach me?" Haoh asked with an eager look in his eyes.

"I guess." I said.

It wasn't like I had anything to do at this moment, aside from figuring out the mysteries of this world. But I was stuck. I figured a nice break would do me good.

* * *

I spent about an hour going over all the basics with Haoh. The kid didn't exactly pick things up fast. Still, it was a nice way to kill some time. I'm sure a lot of people actually know how dueling works. I mean, you're reading my stories, so you must be a fan of mine, right? ...You are, right? ...Well, fine! Whatever! Anyway, the point is, I won't give you guys the same course of "Mr. Yuki's Dueling Lesson" I gave Haoh. Instead, I think I'll pick back up after I'd finished my lesson.

"Okay, I think I get it." Haoh said, nodding. "So, you need at least 40 cards for a deck, right?"

"Yep!" I said. "But your deck can pretty much have however many cards you want."

I hated it when they applied a limit. Even more so when they limited the Fusion Deck...

"Do you have any extra decks I can play with?" Haoh asked.

"No, sorry." I said. "Dueling you would be a good way to get you into the spirit of the game, but... other than my cards, there's no other cards on the island. I think the only reason I still have my cards is because they were with me when I jumped into the portal."

"Where did you usually get cards?" Haoh asked.

"Usually a gaming shop." I said. "But around here, it was usually at the card shop."

"Well, let's go check it out then!" Haoh shouted, standing up.

Before I could voice an objection, Haoh took my wrist and pulled me out. I eventually gave up and decided that this would be another good way to kill time, and just gave Haoh the directions he needed.

* * *

Once we made it to the shop, and the empty counters, I sighed.

"See?" I said. "Empty."

But Haoh just kept poking around the store.

"I'm telling you." I started again. "There's nothing here. At least, no cards. Sure is a good supply of food though."

"No cards, huh?" Haoh asked, in a mocking tone.

Haoh was behind the counter at this point. Stepping over to him, I saw he had found a box, and opened it. The box was loaded with new card packs.

"Where'd you find those?!" I shouted in amazement. "I looked all over!"

"Did you look behind the counter?" Haoh asked.

Cocky little brat. But, hey, he had found some cards. That was good.

* * *

After we opened enough packs that Haoh could make a good enough deck, we started up a mock duel.

"I sacrifice Oscillo Hero and Beaver Warrior!" Haoh shouted, then looked at me, expectantly.

"What is it?" I asked, with probably the dumbest look on my face.

"Oh, I was just seeing if you were about to activate a Trap." Haoh said. So, the kid DID pick things up fast! He must have just been mocking me before! ...Or, so I thought. Looking back, there was another reason for all that.

"No, don't worry." I said. "I won't do that yet."

"Alright!" Haoh cheered. "Then I summon Regenerating Rose!"

The thing had 0 Attack Points, and I had Elemental Hero Neos on the field. Sure, his spirit wasn't around, and this was a peaceful tabletop duel, but Neos still had my back! I also had Mirror Gate waiting in the wings, if Haoh had summoned something stronger than Neos, but I wasn't gonna activate it now. I had 1400 Life Points! Haoh, on the other hand, had 400. I had the duel in the bag.

"Regenerating Rose attacks Elemental Hero Neos!" Haoh shouted. "And when Rose attacks a monster in Attack Mode, she gets Attack Points equal to the enemy monster's Attack Points!"

A double KO. Oh, goody.

"You just left yourself wide open!" I shouted.

"Not exactly." Haoh said with a wink. "When Rose is destroyed, she leaves behind two tokens with 1200 Attack Points each!"

Haoh stared at me for a second.

"What is it now?" I asked.

"Uh, this is embarrassing, but..." Haoh started. "Where do I get the tokens?"

I fell out of my chair. Okay, usually in a Duel Disk Duel... weird word version of a palindrome thing there. Anyway, in a duel like that, the Duel Disk is programmed to summon the tokens on their own. But since this was a tabletop duel, we just made due with two of the opened packs Haoh had tossed to the floor.

"Okay, now I attack directly with both of my tokens!" Haoh shouted. "...I can do that, right?"

"Y-Yeah..." I said, my cheek twitching. The newbie beat me!

"That means I win!" Haoh shouted, victoriously.

"Beginner's luck." I said, adding a chuckle so Haoh would know I was joking.

"Hey, Jaden?" Haoh asked, as he was collecting his cards.

"What's up?" I asked back.

"Do you think I'll ever find a Neos card like yours?" Haoh asked. "It looks so cool!"

"Nope." I said. "It's a one-of-a-kind original, made by yours truly!"

"Aw, but that's no fai-" Haoh started before realizing exactly what I said. "Wait, you make these cards?"

"Well, just the Neo-Spacian cards." I admitted.

"That's so cool!" Haoh shouted. "Now I'd love to have a set more! To think my friend made some cards."

I couldn't help but smile. This kid was looking up to me. Sure, I would never disregard all the friends I'd made in my previous years at Duel Academy for some new guy I met just a few days ago, but after living in this lifeless world for so long, it was nice to have someone to help me out.

* * *

Haoh and I played a few more rounds that day. Until I came up with a plan, this was pretty much all we could do. But it was nice. Eating, playing Duel Monsters, watching the stars when they finally came out. It was enough to dissolve my worries.

You know exactly where this was heading. I'm sure everyone already figured out the twist. But I didn't realize it at the time. Y'know, I will never bad mouth super heroes in TV shows for not being able to figure out each other's identities again! After all, it's always what's under our nose that we don't realize until it's too late.

Don't worry though. The truth would come out before long. It always does.

* * *

Author's Note: Okay, before you go to tell me how that character isn't Haoh in a review, I'm already well aware. However, there should be a very obvious reason why the name "Haoh" was used.

However, on another issues, why did I romanize the name as "Haoh" and not "Haou"? It's simple. Yu-Gi-OH. Rai-OH. Probably another OH I'm forgetting. The Japanese word for King is almost always romanized as "Oh" in this series, instead of as "Ou". I really don't get why the other way is more prevalent. But, if it's any help, it also separates the alias from the actual character.

That said, I've grown to really dislike the Supreme King arc more than I did before. And that's all because of Berserk. Yeah, I promised I'd get into this.

I know, I know. I go on and on about how Season 3 wanted to be Evangelion. And I stand by that. The signs are all there. Jesse is obviously a failed attempt at pulling the same thing Kaworu did in Evangelion. However, if you really wanna be thought of as "dark", you're not just gonna take from one source. Heck, even if you're just doing it because you enjoy these things, you don't take from one singular source.

For example, before GX went all "deep", there was a serious Dragon Ball feel. Meanwhile, Neos was based off Guyver. Heck, even in Season 3, Yubel drew inspiration from Baron Ashura, of Mazinger Z fame.

As for why I say Season 3 copied things from Berserk? Well, there's a LOT of parallels between the Supreme King arc and the infamous Golden Age Arc of Berserk. And it actually would go on to explain some things.

I really don't want to go into any deep spoilers for Berserk. Seriously, read about it. Don't watch it, but read about it on Wikipedia or something. However, there's some big evidence. Brron looks like Void to a degree, Yubel has the same philosophy about Love and Pain that Slan has, both series involve Supreme Kings (well, Berserk has the Egg of the Supreme King, but I'm counting it!), Skull Knights, villains that control causality (you have a better explanation for that disgrace that was Jim's second attack doing less damage than his first (from the same monster) in his duel with the Supreme King?!)... But there's one thing that really made it all click.

The climatic event of the Golden Age Arc is called The Eclipse. It is the single most horrifying thing I have ever witnessed in any work of fiction, and no, that is not hyperbole. The villain behind it, Femto, is my Most Hated Anime Character, edging out Yubel for that first place! I refuse to go into detail and spoil the climax of the first anime/movies, but one thing I need to point out is there's a pattern between the Band of Hawks and Jaden's friend.

Ever wonder why Atticus, who did nothing up until the mid-way point of Season 3, was sacrificed by Brron, as a supposed good friend of his? Simple. He's Judeau, the sensitive lover in the Band of Hawks. Hassleberry? He's a the tough, dark-skin-toned character, like Pippin. Chazz is displayed as an angry guy who's out mostly for himself, like Corkus. Alexis is a tough as nails girl who can keep up with the toughest of guys, like Casca. And then there's Syrus, the smallest member of the group who gets out of being sacrificed. The Band of Hawks has a kid, Rickert, who just so happens to not be around during the Eclipse.

Okay, so these may sound like the group of heroes in every show, but consider, for one second, why Bastion wasn't chosen to be sacrificed, when he was closer to Jaden, and even did more throughout Season 3, than Atticus. Or what about Blair? She had been booted up to Main Character status in Season 3. Yeah, she didn't go through the portal, but she could have. Aster and Zane could be written off because they were appropriately "dark" enough for Season 3, but there's any number of characters who could have been sacrificed. Plus, the characters personalities just happened to change to make them fit those negative emotions, even if they were past those ways by this point in the series. (Also, there's not much difference between Anger and Hatred, and Sadness and Anguish, at least how the show displayed them.)

Are the events perfect match ups? Oh, heavens, no. I won't give details to avoid spoilers, but the GX characters got off lucky compared to the characters in Berserk during the Eclipse.

And it goes further than that. Griffith, the second most important character, dreams of being a king... like Adrian. Or how, at one point, Guts gets a mark on the nape of his neck that causes him a lot of pain. Methinks Brron watches Berserk. Or, y'know, the writers.

The problem I have with this is... Berserk is the opposite of the kind of show GX Season 3 was trying to be. I like to refer to that as "gothic dark". It has all the seemingly freaky stuff as is necessary, but that's about it. It just shows you creepy things and expects that, combined with it's "deep" philosophizing, as enough to make you think it's dark and mature. Kinda like Ryuk from Death Note. Looks creepy, but his actions are goofy, save for a few genuinely creepy ones. "Gothic dark" is all about looks over actions.

Berserk, on the other hand... I did just get done saying how it was the most horrifying thing I've seen, didn't I? Yeah, that's not me joking. The Eclipse made me feel sick, and I used to joke I didn't have a gag reflux, because nothing makes me feel like I have to throw up, except actually being sick. I really can't go into details, but the best example I can give is that Guts, during one battle, ends up falling into a sea of blood, and remains covered in that blood for the rest of the fight. Not the kinda thing "gothic dark" does, since their protagonists need to look like the brooding bishies they were designed to be.

Sure, Guts broods, but the dude has had a genuinely horrific life. It's nothing like "My parents left me alone". That's... kinda the case, but not like GX or Eva did. Trust me.

I could go more into detail, but I feel like people are probably already bored of me talking about this, and it IS getting kinda long, so I'll wrap this up.

A lot of anime these days are going more to the "gothic dark" ground I feel. Meanwhile, things like Berserk, True Grimdark, are rare and much harder to find. But those ultimately come out as better, if solely because they're not worried about appearances. Yes, GX couldn't go into the depths of depravity that the Eclipse was, but it didn't even really try an equivalent. It just saw something hailed as "dark" and copied elements, without a care about why they're there.

Buuuut, I suppose it could be worse. Yeah, the growing trend of "gothic dark" over grimdark is annoying, but it's pretty harmless. The same can't be said for the Sugar Apocolypse that is American Cartoons right now. But that's a rant for another day.

This has been another one of my patented "Season 3 is terrible and here's why" rants. Expect one or two more before the end of the fic.

On a side note, I'm considering changing the secondary genre from "Drama" to "Horror". If I'm smart, I'll have remembered to put a poll up about that on my page, so, check that out if you're interested. If not, you can yell at me for that. Should be fun either way.

Hopefully, I should have another chapter out in a week or so, but I don't know for certain. The next chapter isn't even done yet at the time of editing this chapter. I hope to get the next chapter done soon, and I do like putting these out once a week, but no promises.

Also, fun little fact to end the Author's Note on. Last chapter, the fic had 18,987 words. Now it SHOULD have 25,653. Go do that math on a calculator.


	6. Chapter 5

Author's Note: You guys are probably wondering why there hasn't been a chapter in awhile, huh? Well, I won't lie. I got bit by the inspiration bug, and I was writing something else. Not a fanfic, but the pilot of a cartoon I came up with a few months back, and let sit on the shelf because I didn't have any names for a lot of the characters for a while. Sure, I probably won't pitch the show for a loooong time (I have some issues with cartoons right now, but that's a story for another time), but I wanted to work on the pilot while I had the inclination to. Then, well, I kinda lost my spark for writing again. Sure, I got it back in March, but doubts about my own abilities and fears of falling back into my pretentious period have caused me to overthink everything I'm doing, and I can't connect to that feeling of loving writing as easily as I did. But I'm not about to let myself be stopped. I gotta keep writing!

What I'm saying is, this chapter probably won't be too great. Still, I hope you'll enjoy it for what it is.

But enough about that! Review Answering Time!

LetItFlow: I had time to contact Jaden between chapters and successfully relayed your message. His response was simply, "About what? OH! You're right. I DID forget the jewel on his head!" Narrator Jaden said to tell you, "Ignore my younger self. He's an idiot!" But, jokes aside, your review made me laugh. Thanks for that.

SweetAnimeLover: Uh... sorry for the long wait then.

* * *

As the days went on, I continued to spend time with Haoh, eating, dueling, sleeping under the stars. There wasn't much else to do. When you're the only two people left in a world, and you can't come up with a way out... you end up repeating the same monotonous activities again and again.

"Well, let's shake things up then!" Haoh cried, cheerfully.

"Like how?" I asked.

"Investigate!" Haoh shouted.

"I've done that." I said. "I can't get to the Spirit Hot Springs, and I can't reach the Gravekeeper's world."

"Huh?" Haoh looked at me like I had ten heads. Wait until he sees Chimeratech Fortress Dragon.

"Nothing." I said, with a yawn.

We were currently in my room, so I was sprawled out across my bed. Haoh was on the middle bunk, but he was looking down at me.

"Well, anyway, you haven't checked any of your friend's rooms, have you?" Haoh asked.

"I've only gone in there to grab pillows and blankets." I said. "Well, I did use Blair's room for a bath. And I do sleep in Lex's room."

Haoh frowned and said, "You're getting too technical. But that means you haven't looked all over, right?"

"I guess I didn't." Oh, act like it's such an obvious thing. Chazz is the detective, not me!

"So, let's go look." Haoh said. "If this is your world, then maybe there's some sort of clue in their rooms."

"I thought we settled on the fact this was another world entirely." I said.

"We don't know that for sure." Haoh said. "Maybe we're from different times."

"Right..." I muttered.

Still, I didn't have any better ideas, so I followed Haoh's lead.

* * *

"Okay, these are the Slifer Cabins, right?" Haoh asked, after we left my room.

"Yep."

"Who lives here again?"

"Me, Hassleberry..."

"Besides you and your roommate." Well, excuse me...

"Chazz, Blair, Alexis." I took an extra second to make sure that was everybody. "Well, Jesse was staying in my room, but you're not counting that, right?"

"We take baths in this Blair girl's room, and you said you sleep in the other girl's room." Haoh said, then shot me an evil glance. "You'd better hope I don't tell anyone..."

"It's not like she's here!" I shouted.

Haoh laughed playfully, before continuing, "That means Chazz's room is the one we've spent the least time in. And because of that, we should check there first!"

I quickly ran over and picked Chazz's lock. I'd actually gotten pretty good at picking the Slifer locks. I still had trouble with Ra Yellow's, and I didn't dare to attempt breaking into the Obelisk Blue dorms by picking the locks. Going through the balconies was good enough!

Ever since Blair took over Chazz's room, he had been forced in another normal cabin. Since this was going to be his last year at Duel Academy, and due to wanting to look more humble than Adrian Gecko, Chazz decided not to give this room the works.

We looked all over. Nothing in Chazz's desk... at all. No signs of a struggle. It was like he just... disappeared.

"Uh, Jaden..." Haoh said, nervously.

"What's up?" I asked.

I looked over at Haoh, who had gone straight to Chazz's bed and begun snooping.

"Does this Chazz guy use the same cards as you?" Haoh asked.

"No." I said. "I mean, we both use Pot of Greed, but who doesn't?"

Haoh pulled a card out from under the mattress. It was Winged Kuriboh LV10.

"What?!" I shouted.

Haoh handed me the card and I inspected it. It certainly LOOKED like my card.

"But Chazz wouldn't steal my deck." I said.

"Are you sure?" Haoh asked. "I mean, maybe he was caught stealing your cards, and that's why he's gone. Then everybody else chased after him trying to get those cards back."

"Not likely." I said. "Still, that is strange."

I put the card in my deck box, and stepped outside.

Winged Kuriboh LV10 was the card I used to beat Chazz during our Field Test during my Freshman year. Well, okay, so Avian was the one to deal the final blow, but still.

"Hey, don't worry about it." Haoh said, coming out and patting me on the back. "Maybe he just wants to be like you. I mean, I do."

"Thanks." I said.

"It's almost lunch time, so what do you say we stop by the Ra Yellow Cafeteria?" Haoh asked. "Then we can check out those rooms."

"It's just Bastion and Marcel there, but sure." I said, with a shrug.

* * *

The two of us quickly darted over to the Ra Cafeteria. Sure, we couldn't cook as well as Professor Sartyr, but we could make decent curry.

"Hey, just a heads up." I said, as I was reaching into a cabinet. "Yesterday, I think we used up the last of the beef."

"Oh, really?" Haoh asked.

I heard some rumbling below me. What was this kid doing?

By the time I got down, I realized exactly what was going on. Haoh had found a pack of beef, and held it up victoriously.

"Well?" Haoh asked. "What do you think?"

"You're amazing, Haoh!" I shouted. "That's what I think!"

"Honestly, it's not all that awesome." Haoh said, chuckling humbly. "I stored some away a few days ago. I knew if I didn't, you'd use it all up."

And there he went, making me laugh again. Haoh was getting good at that.

* * *

After a good five helpings of curry, during which we had an eating contest, Haoh and I went to Bastion's room.

"Wow, these Ra Yellow rooms are swanky." Haoh said, with a whistle.

"You're telling me." I said, as I looked under Bastion's mattress. No cards. Whew.

"AH!" Haoh shouted.

"What's wrong?" I asked, looking over at him.

Haoh shook and pointed at the computer.

"Wh-What is that thing?!" Haoh shouted.

"It's a computer, dude." I said.

I sat down and turned the computer on. I'll admit, I didn't make a habit of accessing Bastion's computer, but if there was one person who would have noticed the disturbances, it was Bastion. He probably had records on this stuff too. So, typing in his password, "H2+O=WD", I went through his files.

I had trouble deciphering most of Bastion's writing, but I came across a file with my name. Well, I HAD left before this all happened. Maybe this had to do with it.

As it turned out, it was a journal.

For the sake of Bastion's privacy, I won't mention any of the things I read, except for the one entry relevant to the situation.

 _"Jaden disappeared from Duel Academy today."_ The entry read. _"Everyone else is acting like it was some big problem, but honestly, I'm ecstatic. We're talking about a fool who only wins because he always lucks out on his draws. It's not like he didn't have a choice. The idiot ran headlong into that portal, without any concern for his safety, or any of ours. If he's gone, so be it. Now the true geniuses will get their chances to shine."_

Okay, maybe I put my own spin on his words, but that was honestly the gist of what was there.

I stared, in shock, at this. The date of that particular entry was mere days after Duel Monsters Spirit Day, and after a few more entries, the journal ended.

Haoh, who had been reading over my shoulder, could only frown and say, "Wow, tough break."

"This doesn't sound like Bastion." I said.

"Sometimes the people we trust are the worst of all." Haoh said. "And sometimes the people we distrust are the ones with our best interests in mind."

I shot Haoh a look. It wasn't exactly one of anger, though there was some there. It was more concern for what made Haoh say this.

"I come from a kingdom." Haoh explained, once he realized why I was glancing at him. "There are plenty of people who have tried to get close to my friend, the Prince, simply to gain his good graces."

"Riiiight..." I said, wanting to leave this whole experience behind me.

* * *

When we got to Marcel's room, it wasn't any different than usual. Marcel's room was pretty small, like Chazz's. Of course, he was "good friends" with Blair, who had a BOWLING ALLEY in her room. It isn't exactly like he had to use his room for anything besides sleeping at this point.

"Great..." I muttered, collapsing on Marcel's bed. "Absolutely nothing here!"

"Well, maybe if we look under the carpet?" Haoh suggested.

"There wouldn't be anything." I said.

"Huh?" Haoh asked, looking at me.

"Marcel's a lot like you." I said. "I mean, you're more outgoing and all, but you're both gentle young boys who hang around people you look up to all the time."

Now that I think about it, that described Syrus and Hassleberry too.

Haoh only smiled and sat down next to me.

"Hey, we're gonna find something." Haoh said. "You just gotta keep your hopes up."

"Right." I said, before jumping to my feet. "Alright! Haoh, I know where we have to go!"

Haoh only stared at me in pure confusion. Oh, right... He wasn't with me on Duel Monster Spirit Day.

* * *

Atticus' room. If there was any place we'd find clues, it was here. Atticus had been under Yubel's control for the past year after all.

And, boy, did we find a load of clues? ...No. No, we didn't.

"What the heck?!" I shouted. "This place should be crawling with clues!"

I had explained the story to Haoh on the way, so he wasn't confused at my statement. Instead, he was wrapped up in Atticus' computer.

"Are you sure these things don't steal souls?" Haoh asked, randomly clicking on the screen.

"They're not Shadow Charms." I said, chuckling. "I think you'll be okay."

That said, if Atticus' computer WAS a Shadow Charm, made by that Nightshroud entity to control him, that might explain what happened to everyone. Then there was Bastion's story of being attacked by the Alice doll while looking up something on his computer, although we all write that off as a nightmare.

"Hey, can I see that for a second?" I asked, tapping Haoh on the shoulder.

"Sure." Haoh said, kicking away from the computer.

Haoh got out of the chair, before holding out his hands to the chair.

"Please, sire, your throne awaits." Haoh said, jokingly. Man, this kid must have been missing his Prince friend almost as much as I missed my friends.

I sat down and began snooping through the files. Again, I feel the need to state that I don't normally go through people's computers. This was a very important circumstance, even more than Bastion's. Atticus had been the host for two evil entities now. If anyone had info to get us out of here, it'd be Atticus.

I tried to go through every file I could. Eventually, I settled for searching for any keywords relating to the supernatural. "Nightshroud", "Yubel", "Sacred Beasts", even "Red-Eyes Black Dragon". All I got from that was a list of numbers from all the girls Atticus had flirted with. Dude, get a book like most guys!

Eventually, I did find one thing that gave me something to go on. "Abandoned Dorm". I uncovered a file that talked about Atticus' time in the shadows.

"That's weird." I mumbled to myself. "I'd have thought Atticus would put this under a password."

"What's up, Jaden?" Haoh asked.

"Just the sky." I made a lame joke, just to make my next statement more awesome. "Oh, and I found a way out!"

Haoh leapt in the air and cried out for joy.

"What is it?!" Haoh asked, excitedly.

"Well, I'm not sure if it'll work, but it says that Atticus managed to find out some information while traveling through the dimensions of the Monster's worlds." I explained. "I don't know if it'll actually work, but it's worth a shot."

"Sweet!" Aw, the kid was picking up my catchphrases. "What is it?"

"It says something about using two cards that can fuse monsters to force a small gateway back to the Human world." I explained. "Atticus couldn't do it because he was on his own. But if you and I both do it, we should make it work!"

I quickly reached into my deck and tossed Haoh my Polymerization card.

"I'll use Miracle Fusion, you use Polymerization!" I said, riding this excitement for all it was worth!

"Thanks anyway, Jaden." Haoh said, handing the Polymerization card. "But I have a card of my own I can use."

"Your own card?" I asked.

Haoh smiled cheekily, "I've got to keep some secrets from you."

* * *

Haoh and I left the room. If we did open a portal, we didn't wanna wreck Atticus' room. Well, I didn't. Haoh was more eager to return home than I was.

Haoh pulled his card out of his deck. "Super Polymerization" was the name written on the card.

"C'mon, Jaden." Haoh said. "Let's do this."

I nodded, and went to reach for my Miracle Fusion card, when...

"Jaden!" That voice again!

I was about to run off, in an attempt to find whoever was calling me. But then it hit me! Every time I heard that voice, I ran off, looking for it. What if that's why I couldn't find it? What if, while I was looking for the origin of the voice, I was actually running further away from it.

"I'M RIGHT HERE!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

Haoh, who had covered his ears, looked at me worriedly.

"Jaden, who are you talking to?" Haoh asked.

"Can't you hear it too?!" I shouted. "WHOEVER'S THERE! I'M HERE! WHO ARE YOU?!"

"Jaden, there's only us here." Haoh insisted. "Now, hurry up! We can finally return home!"

"Jaden, you must wake up!" The voice shouted again. "You must save the world. You're the only one left."

The voice was always faint, but now that I was able to hear more than just my name being called. I could make out something distinct in the voice. Something only one person I ever knew had.

A German accent.

"Professor Banner?!" I shouted.

"Jaden, see past the lies, like when you defeated me." The voice said in response. Yep! Definitely Banner!

"What are you talking about?!" I asked, looking around, trying to find where Banner was. "I'm stuck in a gray, lifeless world! I mean, I know I wasn't the best student in life, but I didn't think I did anything too bad to get kicked out of Heaven!"

"You aren't dead, Jaden!" Banner said. "You have to escape from the false world you have been stuck in."

As Banner was telling all this to me, from the corner of my eye, I could see Haoh growing more and more upset.

"False world?" I asked. "Look, Teach, you're gonna need to be more specific."

"You haven't lost hope yet, Jaden." Banner said. "You can't be taken as easily as the others were."

The world around me... it actually started to break apart. What?!

"Banner?!" I shouted, before trying to look around.

However, my body froze where it was. I was barely able to turn my head, which locked into place when I was stuck looking at Haoh.

"I can't move!" I shouted. "Haoh, what about you?"

"No, Jaden." Haoh growled. "I won't move."

Won't? Don't you mean "can't"?

"Jaden, forgive us for this." I could hear Banner say.

"Wha-" I started.

Next thing I know, I feel sharp claws sink into my stomach.

* * *

"AAAAHHHHAHAHAHA!" I shouted.

I found myself in a world of darkness. ...Then I realized something was on my face. I reached up and pulled off... Pharaoh?! Why was he on my face?

That didn't matter though. I quickly noticed that I WAS in a world of darkness. Creepy, dark structures jutted out of the ground. It honestly looked like it was once a castle of some sorts. The sky was also incredibly dark. But, hey, at least this looked like a nighttime sky, and not a lifeless sky.

Winged Kuriboh flew over to my side. HEY! Buddy!

"Winged Kuriboh!" I shouted. "It's been forever, bro! Where've you been?"

A ball of light floated over to me.

"He hasn't been anywhere, Jaden." Banner's voice said.

The ball of light then took on Banner's form.

"You were the one who was gone." Banner said. "Locked away in your own head."

"Did you sick your cat on me?" I asked, with a playful glare.

"It worked whenever I had sleep paralysis." Banner chuckled nervously, before continuing, "I'm sure you have many questions, Jaden."

"You're a spirit." I said nonchalantly. "Big whoop."

"It's good to see you've figured that out so far." Banner said, with a more confident laugh this time. "But I was referring to where we are, and why we're here."

"You hurt my Jaden?" A voice echoed.

Winged Kuriboh, Banner and I all looked over and saw Haoh, glaring at Banner.

"I sacrificed so much, even my beautiful body..." Haoh said.

At this point, Haoh began to morph. Well, not quite morph. More like, faded. Like when a duel ends and the holograms fade out. And who stood in Haoh's place? Yubel, still inhabiting Alexis' body.

"...to make sure I would be the only one allowed to hurt Jaden." Yubel finished.

* * *

Author's Note: Well, it's been sometime, hasn't it?

One bright side is that this meant that my poll had time to actually get a vote. I'll leave it up a little while longer, just to give people a little more time, if they didn't see the poll after last chapter.

I've considered actually going into the story behind how I lost that spark for writing I had. Well, the first time. As I said in the opening Author's Note, this time it was just because of self-doubts getting to me. And with how I've been doing my best to fight back against that loss of spark, I think that's ultimately for the best.

It's a little hard to explain, but I'll give it my best shot. Starting in the end of March, I was able to remember who I used to be. It all came back to me so easily. But, once I started worrying like I did, I started trying to push that feeling more and more, and I've kinda hit a wall with that. Yeah. Not exactly the best thing.

But, no matter how worried I am about things turning out like they did in 2009, I refuse to just let it all happen again without fighting. Because there've been several times I've felt that spark again. It doesn't last long, because I push too hard for it, but it's still there. My heart hasn't died again.

In all honesty, it's probably a mix of just falling into old ways and getting worried about trying to make something professional again. The show I'd planned to make since 2007 didn't exactly get the best treatment from me, and was in a few small ways, part of the reason I lost my spark last time.

Oh, I said I was planning on explaining what happened years ago, then just kinda went off on a tangent. Sorry. I WAS gonna explain everything, but considering all that happened in this chapter, I think I'll hold off for just a little bit longer. Which is kinda sad, because there's supposed to be a pattern to these Author's Note. First I complain about Season 3, then next chapter, I get sappy and sentimental. Then I complain about Season 3, then get sentimental. Rise and repeat until the fic is over. Well, this was kinda sentimental, I guess.

...So, last chapter I was all like "I want these chapters out on a weekly basis!" Well, that didn't happen!


	7. Chapter 6

Author's Note: No time to make funny jokes! Review Answering Time! I've got a lot to answer too!

LetItFlow: And into Miss Yubel's Dark World of Suffering!

Scarlet: You make a very good point. But I put up the poll, and ignoring the results would be rude, especially after it's been over a month since I posted it. And the majority of the voters said Drama.

Ah. Kay. Can't find that anywhere, but it was probably Yubel talking through Atticus about Jaden?

...It's very funny you mention that in the review leading up to this throwing that one out there.

I've come up with the reason for Jaden writing a diary. But it's nothing as cliche as Jaden writing his life story before he dies. It's even more cliche than that!

Yeah, I've heard things like this happening to quite a few people now. Still, I wish it was as simple as not being able to get into Seasons 3 and 4.

SweetAnimeLover: Ah, great then! Glad you're looking forward to things.

T.K: The sad part is, it really is like a predecessor, from what I've heard.

Sweet, you got my reference! Honestly though, between Fiore and Yubel both being villains from the male leads past with control over plants, and claiming (in Yubel's case) to be controlled by another entity and knowing that Ikuhara hated the main couple of the manga and did everything he could to separate them in the anime? I genuinely think whoever's behind Season 3's plot had some inspiration there. Probably, I just haven't seen Future Diary yet.

Another anime I haven't seen, but thanks. I'm really proud of the title.

Thanks!

T.K (Guest): Actually, I watch Outlaw Star, Sailor Moon, Rurouni Kenshin and Zoids late at night, not Evangelion. That particular chapter was inspired by Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, but the whole "Lifeless World" Mini-Arc thing WAS inspired by Evangelion, to show how you really write ShinjiXKaworu, instead of how the show handled Jesse. So, nice catch there!

Well, let's get into this!

* * *

Well, this was just the best time I ever had, wasn't it? First Alexis gets her body hijacked by an evil spirit that was in love with me. Then, when I go to save her, I end up trapped in another world where no one existed but me and some kid named Haoh. Then Banner has Pharaoh stab my stomach and wake me up, only to find Yubel waiting for me.

"What did you do to Haoh?!" I shouted.

"Haoh?" Yubel asked, with a chuckle. "There never was a Haoh. At least, not the one you knew. A person's inner turmoil is so easy to manipulate, don't you agree?"

I didn't respond at all to that. I wasn't gonna give her the satisfaction.

"Do you need to think it over?" Yubel asked.

All that earned her was a glare.

"Banner, you have any idea what she's talking about?" I asked, keeping Yubel in my sights, to avoid her pulling any stunts.

"She trapped you in your own despair, Jaden." Banner explained.

"What?!" I asked, looking at Banner's spirit in shock for a second, before remembering I needed to keep an eye on Yubel.

"Oh, there's time for that later." Yubel said. "You wanted to know about Haoh, right?"

Yubel actually began to frown.

"It hurts that you don't remember, my dear Prince." Yubel said. Huh? "The boy you knew as Haoh is what I looked like in the past. But my name has always been Yubel. And you, you were the Supreme Prince, destined to one day become the Supreme King."

Okay, I've made up a lot of excuses to get out of being late to class before, but this was obviously a lie. I mean, I think I'd remember a past life where I was some Prince. ...Although, this isn't exactly unprecedented. Okay, so maybe she is right, or maybe she's playing off my love of heroes. Doesn't matter! There was something more important on my mind!

"Then what about Syrus and Hassleberry?" I asked. "What happened to them?"

"After you disappeared, I was able to pick away at their worries, their fears, their anger." Yubel said. "Now, they're with the others."

"The others?!" I was really starting to get angry. "What did you do to them?"

"A very similar thing to what I did to you." Yubel said. "Only, I intended to bring you out eventually. But the rest of the world? They'll be trapped in the darkness of their own hearts for the rest of time."

"Explain!" I ordered.

"It's good to see you accepting your role as a King, Jaden." Yubel said. "But why explain, when I can show you?"

"Huh?" I asked.

Before I could even register what was happening, Yubel was filling my mind with visions of exactly what happened while I was in that nightmare.

* * *

I could see it all clearly. Yubel, still using Alexis' body, exiting the portal she had opened. Flying to the School Building, and to Crowler's office.

Crowler, who had been discussing with the other teachers what to do, immediately threw himself between Yubel and the teachers.

"Evacuate the students!" Crowler called, activating his Duel Disk. "Contact Maximillion Pegasus and Seto Kaiba! Have them send as many boats and copters as they can!"

The other teachers nodded, before fleeing. Yubel only smirked.

"They didn't even reach this island." The Yubel in front of me explained.

* * *

The scene in my head changed to Sheppard and Dorothy in the Slifer Dorms. Chazz, Jesse, Jim, Axel, Blair, Marcel, Aster and Sartorius were all there with them.

"The Slacker let her get away?!" Chazz shouted.

"I hope that's the case." Dorothy said. "If she touched one hair on Jaden's head..."

Sheppard put a hand on Dorothy's shoulder to calm her.

"Right now, what we need to worry about is getting the rest of you out of here." Sheppard said. "Professor Sartyr is off contacting Pegasus and Kaiba, like Crowler instructed. Fonda is getting Atticus from the infirmary."

"Well, if my jet is the only way out for now, I'll go start it up." Aster said, rushing out.

The others all followed him out. Unfortunately, Yubel stood waiting for them, holding a beaten Atticus in her claw.

"It really is amazing." Yubel said. "This one cared so deeply for his sister, and she for him. They are the perfect example of how painful love is."

Atticus disappeared from Yubel's claw.

"What did you do to him!?" Sheppard asked.

"The same thing I've done to all the others." Yubel said, horrifically calm. "I've trapped him in his own darkness. But don't worry too much about him. You should be more concerned with your own selves."

As everyone else glared at Yubel, Jesse took a step forward.

"I'll handle her, guys." Jesse said, calmly. "The rest of you get out of here."

"But Jesse-" Blair began.

"But nothing!" Jesse said. "I'm the one who beat Jaden, remember? As far as I see it, Rainbow Dragon's the best chance we've got!"

"She's the one who took Viper's life!" Axel shouted, stepping next to Jesse. "I'll handle her."

"Your mission, soldier, is to get everyone to safety!" Jesse shouted. "I was chosen by the Crystal Beasts. I have to have been chosen for something, so this might just be it."

Axel glared at Jesse, before nodding and rushing off.

"Follow me!" Axel yelled.

The rest followed him. Yubel just stared at Jesse with an envious look in her eyes.

* * *

The scene now changed to Rainbow Dragon shattering, and Jesse's Life Points dropping to 0.

"He tried his best." The present Yubel narrated. "However, no matter how alike the two of you are, you are the only one allowed to remain at my side."

* * *

Now I could see the rest of the gang, rushing through the forest. Moments later, a winged Alexis was flying after them. Axel was the first to notice, and quickly jumped to the back of the group.

"Jim!" Axel shouted. "You're in charge! Get the others to safety! I'll hold her off!"

"But your mission-" Jim started.

"My mission is to keep the rest of you safe." Axel said. "And I will always see my mission through to the end!"

* * *

This time, instead of the image changing to Axel's defeat, it turned to the others, now further in the forest.

Aster and Jim turned to each other and nodded.

"Sartorius!" Aster shouted.

Sartorius turned to Aster, who tossed his keys to the former psychic.

"Aster, what are you..." Sartorius started.

"That demon took down Jesse!" Aster shouted.

"There's no way Axel can handle her on his own." Jim explained.

Sartorius gulped heavily, before gripping the keys tightly and nodding.

"Good-bye, my friend." Sartorius said, solemnly.

Aster and Jim ran off, as Sartorius took over leading the group to the jet.

* * *

The vision changed to Axel, with Volcanic Doomfire on his field, and 1200 Life Points to his name. Yubel had her monster form on the field and 3000 Life Points. Aster and Jim ran up next to Axel and activated their Duel Disks.

"What are you two doing?!" Axel shouted. "I've got this covered!"

"All you've got covered is your body with wounds." Aster said, sarcastically.

"Let us lend you a hand, mate." Jim said, placing a hand on Axel's shoulder. "No soldier fights alone, right?"

Axel only sneered.

"Well, I had been hoping to take you all down one at a time." Yubel said. "I thought it would inspired the most despair. But if you believe fighting together will give you the best shot at victory, allow me to crush those dreams."

* * *

I was quickly bombarded by images of Doomfire shattering, and Axel's Life Points dropping to 0. Next, Jim's Gaia Plate was hit by vines, and Jim's Life Points dropped to 0. The final rapid-fire vision was of Destiny Hero Plasma, with the monster form of Yubel absorbed, being destroyed. Aster dropped to his knees, as his Life Points dropped to 0.

"It was a valiant effort, trying to take my monster for yourself." Yubel said to the defeated Aster. "But one thing you must have realized is that the only one I will serve is Jaden."

Aster disappeared to the darkness, which Axel and Jim must have done prior.

"Oh, now let me show you my FAVORITE part." Yubel narrated.

* * *

Sartorius had led everyone to the jet and was loading them on. Chazz kept watch for either Axel's group, or Yubel, while Sheppard, Dorothy and Marcel made it on the jet. However, as Blair was walking on, Yubel appeared before her and griped her with a claw.

"Don't think I'll let you get away!" Yubel shouted. "It might have been a childish crush, but anyone who dares to think they can have my Jaden must be dealt with accordingly."

Chazz tackled Yubel to the ground, causing her to drop Blair.

"SARTORIUS!" Chazz shouted, struggling to keep Yubel from standing again.

Sartorius looked at Chazz, then to Blair, realizing what Chazz wanted.

"I understand." Sartorius nodded.

Sartorius lifted Blair off the ground and ran into the jet. Seconds later, he was back out, waiting for Chazz.

"Get in!" Sartorius ordered.

"I need to defeat her!" Chazz shouted. "Even if it costs me my life!"

Sartorius stared at Chazz in shock. Chazz's smile turned into one of the most sincere smiles I've ever seen.

"Sartorius, you may have been evil, but you were an excellent leader." Chazz said. "Get everyone else as far away as possible. Have Sheppard contact Mr. Pegasus and get him to send Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba here, if I fail to beat her."

"Chazz!" Blair cried out, trying to leave the jet.

Sheppard ran over and pulled her back in.

"Make us proud!" Sheppard said, as Sartorius quickly rushed in and locked the jet close.

Chazz nodded, before Yubel finally overpowered him and tossed him to the side. As Aster's jet flew away, Blair could be seen pounding on one of the windows, crying Chazz's name.

"Entitled brat, clinging to my Jaden." Yubel growled, watching the jet fly away.

Chazz slowly got back on his feet and activated his Duel Disk.

"I know you're just using her body, but it still pisses me off to hear those words come from Alexis' mouth." Chazz growled.

Yubel turned to Chazz and released a defeated sigh.

"I should go after the child, but I can't allow anyone to reach that portal." Yubel said, as a Duel Disk grew from her arm.

"DUEL!" Chazz shouted.

Chazz and Yubel drew their opening hands.

"I'll go first!" Chazz shouted. "I summon Armed Dragon LV3 in Attack Mode!"

Armed Dragon appeared on Chazz's field, punching at the air.

"Then I'll place one card face-down and call it a turn." Chazz said.

Yubel drew a card and smirked.

"I-" Yubel started.

"Go, Ojama Trio!" Chazz shouted.

The three Ojamas appeared on Yubel's field as Chazz's Trap Card turned face-up.

"Chazz, what are you doing?" Ojama Black asked.

"Yeah, we don't wanna be near her." Ojama Green said. "She's scary!"

"I've already lost one family." Chazz said. "I won't let her take my second one!"

Ojama Yellow nodded, "You can do it, Boss."

"Putting your Duel Spirits in harm's way." Yubel commented. "You've taken pointers from Jaden."

"I don't take anything from Jaden." Chazz said. "He's been taking hints from me since we met."

"Oh, Jaden has been harming his friends since childhood, I assure you." Yubel said. "Now let me show you! I summon Torch Golem!"

A giant machine with a saw blade for a head and a massive 3000 Attack Points, appeared on... Chazz's field?

"Check your equipment." Chazz said. "I think that growth you call a Duel Disk is malfunctioning."

"I'm allowed to summon Torch Golem to my opponent's field." Yubel said. "And in exchange, I get these."

Two smaller versions of Torch Golem appeared on Yubel's field, on either end of the Ojamas. Thankfully, they had no Attack Points.

"Two tokens?" Chazz asked. "Big whoop. They have 0 Attack Points. Have you just realized your mistake and want me to remove you from Alexis' body?"

"I'll get rid of this body on my own." Yubel said. "But only after Jaden has remembered what he felt for me. Now, I sacrifice my two Torch Tokens to summon Yubel!"

Chazz's eyes widened in horror, as Yubel's tokens disappeared. Yubel's monster form appeared in front of Alexis' body. A tall, demonic monster, with one orange eye, one green eye, and a third eye on her forehead. Plus, she had purple and gray spiky hair. Yubel, the monster, had 0 Attack Points as well, but due to having experience using her, I knew that wasn't to be messed with.

"I attack Torch Golem!" Yubel shouted.

Torch Golem walked towards Yubel, only to be attacked by vines. Chazz's Life Points dropped to 1000. See, if you have Yubel on the field, the opponent takes any damage you would have taken. Oh, and she can't be destroyed by battle. You can see why a card like that sounds good to a kid.

"I'll set one card face-down and end my turn." Yubel said, before Ojama Yellow disappeared from her field.

Yubel's only "weakness" is that she has to sacrifice another monster to stay on the field. Of course, Chazz had given her those Ojama Tokens, which would cause 300 Life Points of damage if DESTROYED. Sure, you couldn't sacrifice those Tokens for a Tribute Summon, but Yubel's effect wasn't a Tribute Summon. It'd be pretty clever, if it wasn't being used by evil incarnate. Seriously, Yubel means Evil! I found that out from Banner!

Chazz sneered, as he drew a new card. He must have known about Yubel's final effect, because he didn't upgrade Armed Dragon to LV5. Instead, Armed Dragon LV3 was switched to Defense Mode. Torch Golem was also put into Defense Mode. They had 900 and 300 Defense Points, respectively. Awesome! Chazz could survive another turn!

"I summon Ojama Yellow!" Chazz announced.

Ojama Yellow appeared on the field... in Attack Mode. I know he has 1000 Defense, which would end Chazz's duel, but why was Chazz even throwing him out?

"What are you doing, Boss?" Ojama Yellow asked.

"I don't know if I can win this duel." Chazz admitted to Ojama Yellow. "But I'm going to hold this monster off as long as possible."

Ojama Yellow seemed to understand what Chazz meant and only nodded.

"THIS IS FOR JADEN!" Chazz shouted.

Ojama Yellow punched Yubel. However, it was useless, due to Ojama Yellow's 0 Attack Points. These days, the rules have changed so Ojama Yellow would stay on the field, but Ojama Yellow was destroyed, while Yubel remained on the field from her effect.

"Just like Jaden." Yubel said. "You show your feelings for your Duel Spirit by causing it pain."

"You've got it backwards, lady." Chazz said. "They cause me all the pain with their annoying voices."

"Yeah, Chazz and us have a bond you'll never understand!" Ojamas Black and Green yelled in unison.

"I end my turn." Chazz said.

Yubel drew a card, before her face-down turned face-up.

"I activate Zero Sprite." Yubel said. No, it wasn't a way to quench her thirst. "I can equip this Trap Card to one monster. That monster is allowed to attack twice, but it's Attack Points become 0. But the way I use it, that won't matter."

Obviously, Yubel equipped it to her card doppelganger.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Chazz shouted.

"I attack Armed Dragon LV3, twice!" Yubel shouted.

Armed Dragon LV3, despite being in Defense Mode, leapt over and tried to punch Yubel, only to be struck by her vines. Chazz's Life Points dropped to 100. Armed Dragon got back up and swept it's tail at Yubel, only to be hit by the vines AGAIN. Chazz's Life Points dropped to 0.

"Don't worry." Yubel said. "Soon, your feelings of inferiority to Jaden won't even exist."

Chazz disappeared into the darkness, as Yubel's wings returned.

* * *

Now the vision changed to the group on the jet. Sheppard held a phone to his ear, glaring at it in frustration.

"You couldn't even reach Yugi's grandfather?" Sartorius asked.

"No." Sheppard said, darkly. "All of the best duelists in the world haven't gotten back to us yet."

"That's because they've entered their own darkness as well." A voice said.

Yubel appeared in the jet. Sheppard threw himself in front of Blair, while Dorothy stepped over to his side.

"It's amazing how easily people are defeated when you use the forms of their loved ones against them." Yubel said, sighing dreamily. "Exactly what Jaden taught me."

There's not much else I can say about what happened. Sheppard and Dorothy fell fast, and Sartorius didn't last long either. Marcel, calling himself a hero, tried to protect Blair, but eventually it was just Yubel and her new torture victim, Blair. And... yeah, that was too harsh to talk about. I still feel kinda sick thinking about it.

* * *

"All in your name." Yubel said.

"You're lying." I said, not letting Yubel get to me. "I never wanted any of this. Besides, I know that was all an illusion made to fool me."

"No, Jaden." Banner's spirit said. "It wasn't."

I turned to look at him.

"I saw everything up to Chazz's defeat from within Pharaoh." Banner explained. "I can't confirm what happened on the jet, but everything else is true."

I felt like vomiting again. Oh, goody!

"After Chazz fell, and Yubel left the island for Aster's jet, I flew for the portal." Banner explained. "Pharaoh followed me through."

Pharaoh meowed proudly at that.

"So, everything she just showed us was true?" I asked.

Banner nodded his head.

"I told you, I'm following your example." Yubel said.

"I've never done anything like that!" I shouted.

"You haven't?" Yubel asked, glaring at me. "You mean you still haven't remembered sending me up in a rocket, then forgetting all about me, as I went insane in space from the isolation?"

"Look, my parents had my memory erased." I explained. "I can't remember anything like that! Besides, going to space clearly didn't drive you insane. Or does attacking my friends not ring a bell to you?"

I expected Yubel to either be taken aback by this, or rage at me some more. But instead, she only smiled peacefully. Don't do that with Alexis' face!

"That was just protecting my dear Prince." Yubel said. "But the pain I went through in space was worse than anything those children could have been put through."

Yeah, I'll remember to tell them that next time I see them. We'll get their perspective on that.

"I was all alone." Yubel said. "But soon, I saw a light. At first, I was sure it would pain me more. But I was saved."

Wait, what?

"In the depth of my despair, I could feel the darkness overtaking me." Yubel said. "That's what saved me that day. The Supreme King, you, Jaden, were meant to fight off the Light of Destruction, with your Gentle Darkness."

No idea what that means, but please, keep going on as I stand here, confused.

"But as your one professor told you countless times, everything comes with a price." Yubel said. "I was sent back to Earth, gravely injured. But I could tell what would happen. I knew Viper would find me. I had him draw out energy for me, while feeding off the darkness locked away in his heart."

Wait a second, all this darkness talk... Why does this sound familiar?

I wasn't the only one who thought so.

"Darkness?" Banner asked. "Is that why you used Atticus' body? Because he had the darkness that made him Nightshroud?"

"You're half right." Yubel said. "Anyone would have done, but it wasn't because of the darkness that made him Nightshroud. It was because he was Nightshroud."

Don't you just hate it when people deny what you said, then say the same thing with different words? Yeah, I was getting to that point.

"Same diff!" I shouted.

"There is a difference." Yubel said. "Every human being has darkness in their hearts. But Atticus Rhodes was the only one to be chosen by the Darkness itself, which made him the ideal host for the new Queen of the World of Darkness!"

* * *

Author's Note: So, first thing first. There's less than an hour left of it, when I'm posting this, but the manga claims that August 31st is Jaden's birthday.

Now, on to the obvious thing. Yubel is connected to Darkness. Thus the Jaden's Journal series turns out to be something of a what-if. ...Well, an even bigger what-if than usual. A few things I need to discuss about this.

One, why did I do it? I've said it before. Yubel and Darkness are the same basic villain. Yubel just has a stalker coating, while Darkness has a Grim Reaper coating. But inside, they've got the same flavor.

Two, if I can be completely honest, Yubel's story about the Light of Destruction attacking her is swiss cheese. ...Not in the fanfic. I just go with what the Anime gives me, and change things when I can. But, seriously, the show tries to claim that everything Yubel did is because of the Light of Destruction. As I had Jaden point out in the fanfic, I feel like Osamu's inclusion in the story proves that Yubel was crazy from the beginning. But, hey, why should the writer's dear Yubel have to take responsibility for her actions? She gets everything she wants anyway.

Three, similar to point one, this would actually explain a lot more. Like, that would actually explain her attack people. She already felt insecure about others being around Jaden, but Darkness just stretched these out. LoD, on the other hand, is only shown to possess people and make them evil. It doesn't exactly make people nihilistic because of pain they went through, is all I'm saying.

Fourth, unrelated to why I did this, but in regards to why I have Yubel referring to the enemy from Season 4 as "Darkness" and not "Nightshroud"? I feel like, if 4Kids WERE to dub Season 4, they'd probably have left "Darkness" as the main enemy's name, while making "Nightshroud" the name of Atticus while under his power. Kinda like "Majin" in DBZ.

One other thing about this chapter, and this has been a bit of a problem throughout the fic, but I wanna finally address it. A lot of things have been skipped over. They still happened, don't think they didn't. I just didn't wanna roll over everything the readers likely knew going in. And if you haven't seen all of Season 3, and I don't blame you, then just go look up the information on the Yu-Gi-Oh wiki.

But, yeah, that's why things are glossed over, like Jaden finding out his memory was wiped, and the Eye of Orichalcum in the second chapter. Everyone knows about them, and there's new information to get out. So, if I put in too much explanation at once, it just feels like a chapter of only exposition. I'm not saying I'm the greatest writer ever or anything, but I think the information that you can only find out from the fic (because it isn't canon to the anime) is a little more important than something you can find out by watching the series.

Exposition is already hard to do, and considering I already have to explain what happened to the characters while Jaden was trapped in his own darkness, and the stuff about the multiple timelines, I had to be very selective on how much I said about things people already know.

As for why Jaden doesn't dwell on them, it's probably because he doesn't wanna think about the implications.

On to something funny. An interesting thing happened in the middle of writing this chapter. As I said last chapter, I'm working on a new cartoon idea, right? One of the hardest things for me is character designing, since I can't draw to save my life. So, I have to come up with the design using written word descriptions. I'm trying to keep a VERY careful balance between nice little throw back to 90's Anime, and avoiding the trappings of Modern Cartoons (okay, so the main character's name is AliSTAR, but that's because the show is partly inspired by Outlaw Star, and not because he's supposed to be so outlandishly out there with a name like Moonbeam Tigerlily).

For example, while I'm trying not to go too into detail here, one of the character's has natural purple hair, which isn't exactly a normal thing. This is a plot point. A minor one, but a plot point nonetheless. Another has pink eyes, again, a mini plot hint. Like I said, I'm trying my best to walk a thin line here.

So, when writing the description of Yubel, with her heterochromia and her double hair color, a red flag went off in my head. I almost scolded myself for making Yubel a Mary Sue design... when I'm not even designing her!

Now, if you don't mind, I need to write next chapter. ...And the duel between Jaden and Yubel for this fic. When this computer has issues with the wiki. Well, I guess the end joke is on me.


	8. Chapter 7

Author's Note: How do I still have friends? Once again, in the rush to get a chapter out, I forgot to credit my friend WarMixedSoul for reading through the duel between Chazz and Yubel, to make sure it was good enough.

I should explain where I've been, huh? Long story short, I've been without internet for a few months. Funny, huh? Last year, it was my computer. This year, my internet was shut off. What will next year be? And considering I wanted all these fics done by New Years both last year and then this year... Something WILL happen, I know it.

As for why I'm posting this chapter now, well, I can still use the internet on my phone, and the day I'm posting this just happens to be the birthday of a very good friend of mine. Also, I might try to get a chapter up on January 1st, to mark 10 years since the original fics came out.

Now time for the most overdue Review Answering Time ever!

Johnny Spectre: Yeah, I actually agree, looking back. I hate to make excuses, but it's because of my current worries as a writer. I've really been worrying too much about how the writing looks, which, ironically, ends up making things look bad.

LetItFlow: Awesome! Thanks!

Guest: Thanks. I've honestly been worrying that people would be sick of the Author's Notes by now. Honestly, as I've said before, I feel like the writers put that in to pull the blame away from Yubel. "It's not her fault. None of this is." Yeah, right. The best way I take is is that Yubel flat-out lied, and Jaden fell for it. Not the intention of the writer, and I don't usually play the Death of the Author card, but that's the only interpretation that explains that plothole!

Trust me, you're not. I know others who dislike Yubel too. Frankly, I see Yubel as GX's equivalent to Broly from DBZ... while also being the exact opposite. Beloved by fans and writers alike, and made out to be better than they are (in power for Broly, in nature for Yubel) while also being nigh-indestructible. However, they're opposites because, while it can be serious, DBZ is the kind of show that can bring out a villain like Broly who's an immensely powerful villain who can't be beaten until he gets one-shot, while Season 3 of GX, in contrast, tried it's best to appear above that sort of thing. I've said many times in Competing for Love that, if you're trying so hard to do a dark and deep story, you need to play it VERY carefully. Broly is cool because he's in a series that's relaxed. Yubel fails because she's in a series that's trying too hard to make itself look perfect.

Don't worry, last chapter wasn't the end of the analysis of Yubel that I've been doing in this fanfic. I think you'll REALLY enjoy where this chapter goes. Or, maybe not. Oh, and you've got a REALLY good point there. I realized, while writing Chapter 7 of Competing for Love, that the season set up a way around Yubel's "I can't be hurt" ability. We find out spirits can be killed for good if the card they're attached to is destroyed. Yubel could have been beaten if her card was destroyed. The writers, instead, chose to make Chekhov cry.

Believe me, the rant is fine. It's shorter than most of mine. Thanks!

That's it for reviews. Let's finally get to this chapter.

* * *

Well, isn't life always swell? My friends were trapped in a world where their deep-seated insecurities were played in front of them again and again. My girlfriend's body was being used as a puppet. And an old friend of mine had plans to rule over the world. I don't say this often, but can I get a vacation?

I stood there, in shock, at everything I had just been told. It felt like months had passed, but honestly, it had only been a few seconds.

"Queen of the World of Darkness?" I eventually muttered.

"Kagemaru used to speak of that world." Banner said. I decided to turn my attention to him. "That was how he turned Atticus into Nightshroud."

"And through that connection, I was able to control his body." Yubel said. "It was very fortunate, in fact. If it had been any other student at Duel Academy chosen, I wouldn't have had as easy a time adjusting to this body."

Yubel didn't explain further, but I'm guessing she was referring to Atticus and Alexis sharing the same DNA. But, then again, I barely understood anything she was saying. For the most part, I let Banner discuss matters with her.

"You said you knew how things would turn out." Banner said. "How is that possible? Atticus never had that power."

"It's not so much future sight as dimensional sight." Yubel said, admiring her arm on Alexis' body again. "I'm sure you've heard of the Many Worlds Theory."

Banner didn't say anything, but he definitely reacted in shock.

"Hey, Prof!" I shouted. "Mind filling in the idiot?"

"Jaden, the Many Worlds Theory..." Banner started. "How should I explain it?"

"Do you remember when you were a child?" Yubel asked. "You'd watch all those shows about Superheroes?"

"Yeah!" I shouted. "I took those to heart, unlike someone else!"

Do you remember the countless times those heroes would go to an alternate universe, where they were villains?" Yubel asked.

"Sure!" I shouted, enthusiastically. I really shouldn't have been this excited, but it brought back good memories.

"One event made those ordinary individuals heroes." Yubel said. "But in another world, it made them evil. That's a simplified version of the Many Worlds Theory."

I was still lost. Banner could see it on my face too.

"To put it another way, there's a limit of 40 cards per deck, right?" Banner put it into dueling terms for me. "Well, imagine a duel where you're on the last card in your deck."

Alright, I'm dueling Yugi Muto, the King of Games. He's got Dragon Master Knight out!

"Without going into all the possible combinations of cards up until that last card, there are 40 possible cards you can draw at this point." Banner explained. "One for each card you have in your deck. Depending on which card you get, you could either win the duel, lose the duel, or draw with your opponent."

I've got Magma Neos on the field, enough cards are on Yugi's field to put Neos at 4200 Attack Points. Yugi and I are both at 100 Life Points a piece.

If I draw Neo Space, between it's effect and Magma Neos', his Attack Points go to 5100. I attack Dragon Master Knight and Yugi drops 100 Life Points to 0.

If I draw Winged Kuriboh, even if I use his effect to spare me the damage, I'm out of cards next turn.

If I draw Final Fusion, set it and use it on Yugi's turn when he attacks, I'll deal both of us 9600 Points of damage.

"I think I get it." I said. "It's like what I always say. A duel isn't over until the last card is played. And that last card can be anything. What's that got to do with anything?"

"That principle applies to the belief that every action we take results in a parallel universe." Banner said.

Okay, so, in one world, Syrus and Dark Magician Girl only have High Priestess of Prophecy. In another, Priestess is a normal monster and their second daughter gets the super power. What does that have to do with any of this?! I was so confused.

"Exactly." Yubel said. "I saw other worlds. Worlds where you and I fought time and again, Jaden. It seems like we're always doing that."

Aaaaand back to glaring at Yubel I go.

"What's your point?" I asked.

"I had time to plan out the perfect strategy." Yubel said. "That's how I came up with the idea to control this girl's brother. I manipulated events to my liking, until we got here."

That explains why she was forcing Alexis and me together while using Atticus' body.

"I also found this." Yubel said, holding up that Super Polymerization card. "In one dimension, you worked so hard creating this card, you sacrificed all your friends. It's quite the powerful card. You even fused us together with it. That's our outcome in so many dimensions. But I won't accept that outcome in this dimension. I won't make the same mistake other versions of me did."

Oh, goody. A generic villain speech. I miss those superhero shows. At least the villains in those realized they were the bad guys.

"And what mistake was that?" I asked.

"Choosing a world where you and I co-existed with others." Yubel said. "But if this card was powerful enough to fuse our spirits in one dimension, it should be strong enough to fuse everyone I've trapped into their inner darkness forever."

W-Wait... WHAT?!

"You want to... what?" I asked, fighting that puking feeling again.

"In every world, every dimension, whenever you fought the darkness, you pulled everyone out." Yubel explained. "And you claim this was because they helped you overcome your own darkness. But I will not allow that! I will make sure there is no way they can escape the darkness. Then you and I will be alone in this world, ruling the World of Darkness as the Supreme King and Queen!"

Now, if I were smart, I would have tackled Yubel and snatched the Super Polymerization card from her. But I'm not smart. I AM a duelist though.

I activated my Duel Disk, ready for the final bout with Yubel.

"I'll never be your King." I shouted. "But I can't let you use that card to fuse everyone I know into that darkness world of yours!"

"Oh, it's not mine." Yubel said, adding the Super Polymerization card to her deck and shuffling it. "The darkness has always existed alongside the light. I'm just it's host."

Like I give a Bone Mouse's patooey!

"DUEL!" Yubel and I shouted at once.

"I'll take the first move if you don't mind." Yubel said, drawing a card from her deck.

"I do mind." I said.

"Soon enough, you'll be saying 'I do' in another way." Yubel said, a sinister smirk on Alexis' face.

That kind of mental game might work on Bastion, but not on me! Ask Tania.

"I summon Samsara Lotus in Attack Mode!" Yubel said. Ah, good, she's not using Alexis' deck.

A small flower girl appeared on Yubel's field. She didn't have any Attack Points though. That was good for me.

"I also set one card face-down and end my turn." Yubel said.

"My move!" I said, drawing a card. "And I'll play Polymerization, to fuse Elemental Hero Necroshade with Sparkman, to become Elemental Hero Darkbright!"

Sparkman and Necroshade appeared and swirled together, merging into a hero wearing black spandex with red highlights and golden armor. Oh, and he had a nice 2000 Attack Points.

"Darkbright, attack Samsara Lotus!" I called.

Darkbright shot a blast of pitch black light at Samsara Lotus, shattering it.

"I activate my face-down, Sinister Seeds!" Yubel shouted. "When I take damage, I can reduce the damage in multiples of 1000 and gain a Sinister Seed Token for each 1000 Points reduced."

Two plants, the tokens, appeared on Yubel's field. Darkbright then took on a defensive stance.

"After Darkbright attacks, he's switched to Defense Mode." I explained.

And he only had 1000 Defense Points. Still, if Yubel only had those Tokens, Darkbright would be fine. After all, they were both in Defense Mode, and even if they were switched to Attack Mode, they only had 100 Attack Points. What I was more worried about was the possibility of Yubel sacrificing them.

"I'll end my turn by laying down a face-down." I said.

"Well, look at this." Yubel said, admiring the two Tokens. "You've given me two wonderful children."

And now I can't get that mental image out of my head... Yubel forcing me to... UGH!

"I can't wait to tell them all our good memories." Yubel said.

"Like the time you put my friends in the hospital, or the time you trapped everyone in the world in their own doubts?" I asked, sarcastically.

"So you do see them as good times." Yubel said. "Even in this world, you enjoy the pain of others." And that sarcasm was completely lost on her.

Let me make one thing clear. While I don't enjoy my own pain, I also don't enjoy hurting others. You can keep your philosophical "wouldn't you rather be pained than pain others" argument for the next time you need to look smart. But I'm not even gonna pretend that's how things work!

Yubel drew a card, then said words that sent a chill down my spine. "I sacrifice my Tokens to summon Yubel!"

A doppelganger of Yubel appeared in front of her. Yeah. This was definitely the monster form of her. Three eyes, purple and gray hair, demonic arms, and 0 Attack Points...

"I attack Darkbright!" Yubel, the one dueling, said.

The monster version of Yubel's eyes began glowing. Darkbright was pulled into an attacking stance, as a shot of black light was sent out. The blast was repelled back by Yubel's third eye, and sent right at me. My Life Points dropped to 3000.

"Jaden!" Banner shouted, worried.

"I'm fine, Teach!" I said, when the dust cleared.

"Of course he is." Yubel said. "This is how Jaden wants it."

"What?" Banner and I asked together.

"You pain others as an expression of your love." Yubel said. "Every version of me has realized it, and every version of you has given into it. So I'll show you the same pain to prove my love."

"Don't go using me as an excuse." I said, eyes on the ground.

"What?!" It was Yubel's turn to be confused now.

"It's your own belief, Yubel." I said. "You had that effect long before I got your card. I can only guess that it's based off your own disturbing ideas. Yeah, sure, everyone hurts the one they love most every now and then. Sometimes we do it without even thinking of it. But I'd never do it on purpose. Not to this extent."

"Jaden..." Well, at least Banner seemed sympathetic.

"But you? You're doing all this to, what? Prove you love me?" I asked. "And you do that by torturing me psychologically. By removing all my friends so I have no one to turn to. By driving me to loneliness. Yubel, you don't want my love. You want to own me!"

Yubel finally looked truly shocked. I struck a chord with her, that's for sure. But I didn't do it to get to her. It's the truth.

You hear it all the time. Someone in a relationship claims they love the other person, and one, or both, treats the other worse than garbage. Physically hitting them, playing on their fears, threatening to hurt themselves or others if the other person leaves. That's not love. But that IS how Yubel acted.

"It's because that's the only love you've ever shown me!" Yubel shouted. "You've made me do this!"

The classic excuse.

At this point, Yubel was absolutely furious.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn!" Yubel yelled.

Even though Yubel's turn was over, Samsara Lotus reappeared on the field.

"I destroyed that thing!" I yelled.

"Samsara Lotus revives itself from the graveyard." Yubel explained. "If it stays on the field, I'll lose 1000 Life Points. But it comes in handy when I need to do this!"

Samsara shattered, and the monster Yubel absorbed the specks of light that came from Lotus' shattered hologram.

"I play EN Shuffle!" I said, after drawing the card. "This lets me return one Elemental Hero from my field to the deck, and I get to bring out a Neo-Spacian in it's place!"

Darkbright returned to my Fusion Deck, and in his place, Glow Moss appeared.

"Next, I play NEX!" Ha, I made a small joke.

"NEX?" Yubel asked.

"Think of it like a Spacian version of Metamorphosis." I explained. "I get to upgrade a Neo-Spacian to a higher form. Let's go, Glow Moss! Glow so bright, you become a twinkling star in the sky, Twinkle Moss!"

Glow Moss changed into a more humanoid figure, gaining spiky hair and a... ahem, more prominent chest. The change wasn't just superficial either. Twinkle Moss had 500 Attack Points and a higher Defense. She glared at Yubel.

"Jaden, I hope you know what you're doing." Twinkle Moss said.

"You know I do." I said, reassuringly. "Twinkle Moss, attack!"

Twinkle Moss prepared her attack, as three lights appeared above her. I drew a card.

"Just like Glow Moss, right?" Yubel asked. "I've watched your duels up until now. What did you get?"

Neo Signal, a Trap Card. I showed Yubel, as Twinkle Moss turned to Defense Mode. With 1100 Defense Points, I was better off with Darkbright.

"How does it feel?" Yubel asked. "To be betrayed by a deck that you claim loves and cherishes you? Twinkle Moss will cause you more pain. And Jaden just threw you to my fury, Twinkle Moss."

Thankfully, the Neo-Spacians aren't deplorable and Twinkle Moss didn't buy into Yubel's taunts.

"I'll set a card face-down and call it a turn." I said.

Yubel drew a card and said, "I activate Fiend Rose!"

A rose appeared in the hand of the monster version of Yubel, who sniffed it.

"Jaden, watch out!" Banner yelled.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Fiend Rose is a dangerous trap!" Banner warned. "It equips to a monster and makes it immune to destruction through battle, while negating all damage taken from battles the equipped monster takes part in."

I knew exactly what Yubel was trying to do.

If Yubel is destroyed by any effect but her own, she "evolves".

Yubel wanted me to destroy her to increase her strength!

"Are you terrified?" Yubel asked, in a condescending tone. "Don't be. At least, not until the incarnation of terror arises! I activate Mystical Space Typhoon!"

A typhoon blew across the field. I was expecting my face-down Neo Signal to be destroyed, but instead, the typhoon picked up Fiend Rose. The holographic Yubel refused to let go of the rose, being pulled into the twister with the rose, shattering.

"When Fiend Rose is destroyed, the monster it's equipped to is destroyed as well." Yubel said, smirking with Alexis' face again.

"Then that means..." I said, looking on in horror at Yubel's field.

A two-headed dragon appeared on Yubel's field. On it's chest was a giant eye. Yubel - Terror Incarnate had been summoned. It had most of the same stats and effects as Yubel did, she doesn't change much. But there was one thing I was worried about.

"I thought since you upgraded your own monster, I needed to change something too." Yubel said.

"I didn't get Twinkle Moss by destroying her!" I yelled.

"So, you care about her more than me." Yubel said, eyes narrowing. Wait, are we still talking about Twinkle Moss? "Terror Incarnate! Attack!"

I drew a card quickly, hoping for anything but a Trap Card.

"Contact Soul!" I shouted, showing off the card.

Terror Incarnate's attack became a direct one. Even if she had 0 Attack Points, getting whipped by Yubel's vines hurt. Why does she use vines?!

"I end my turn." Yubel said.

Samsara Lotus revived itself. Terror Incarnate responded to this by swinging it's tail at Lotus, sending her hurtling into Twinkle Moss, destroying both of them.

This was Terror Incarnate's effect. It destroyed every monster on Yubel's field, then an equal amount of monsters were destroyed on my field.

If I wanted to keep any monsters on the field, I'd need to take care of Samsara Lotus first.

Or would I?

"I activate Neo Signal!" I shouted. "When a monster on my field is destroyed and sent to the grave, I can bring out another Spacian from my deck!"

From the dust of Twinkle Moss' destruction, an "N" floated into the sky. Air Hummingbird flew down where Twinkle Moss once stood.

"The others are on their way, Jaden." Air Hummingbird said, flashing a thumbs up.

"Now that's what I call caring friends!" I said, giving my deck a nod. "My move!"

I drew a card. Aqua Dolphin! Sweet! Just who I needed!

"First, I'll use Air Hummingbird's effect!" I said. "Honey Suck!"

Three flowers appeared from the cards in Yubel's hand. Hummingbird flew over and drank from each of them, while my Life Points increased to 4500.

"Oh, honey, you can su-" Yubel started.

Not gonna hear the end of that one! "I summon Neos!"

Necroshade's spirit rose from the grave, calling Neos to the field.

"Next, I play Contact Soul!" I said. "It lets me bring out another Neo-Spacian."

Neos' chest emblem glowed, as Aqua Dolphin leapt on to the field next to him.

"Jaden." Aquos greeted me, with a pleasant smile. "You've helped us Neo-Spacians fight the Light of Destruction. Now let us return the favor."

"Hey, that was nothing." I said. "But I appreciate the thought."

Yubel glared at my monsters with obvious jealousy. Is this how I looked when Jesse first arrived at Duel Academy? Wow! I really WAS pathetic!

"Now, let's go, guys!" I shouted. "Do your thing!"

Neos, Aqua Dolphin and Air Hummingbird flew into the sky, swirling together.

"Friends, become the raging storm that blows away the trouble in my path!" I shouted. "Triple Contact Fusion! Storm Neos!"

Man, that was COOL!

Neos returned, clad in light blue armor, shaped like a bird. Large wings emerged from his back.

"Ah, yes." Yubel said. "I remember the last two times you used that technique. First, Chaos Neos against Stein, and then Magma Neos against Jesse. I could feel the darkness in your heart during those duels. I called out to you then. Did you hear me? Show me that rage again!"

"Your move." I said, with a giant smile on my face.

Without Neo Space on my field to keep him around, Storm Neos returned to my Fusion Deck. And, thanks to the ability of all Triple Contact Fusions to clear the field, Terror Incarnate went down as well! Two down, one to go!

A massive dragon arose from the ground. Two large dragon heads jutted out of it's neck, like before, but a more angered, demonic head sat between them. And those weren't the end of the faces. Many faces and eyes scattered over the beasts body glared at me, including a menacing looking one on the dragons chest.

"Yubel - The Ultimate Nightmare!" Yubel shouted. "Is this what you've wanted, Jaden? Me at my most deadly?"

"Yep!" I said, smirking cockily.

"My turn!" Yubel said. Then it hit her. "You don't have any monsters."

YEEEEP! Sure, that Ultimate Nightmare would be a nightmare to fight, but it couldn't do anything if I didn't have a monster on the field!

"I play Monster Reincarnation!" Yubel said, discarding one card from her hand. "This lets me bring one monster in my graveyard back to my hand."

Yubel pulled a card from her graveyard.

"Even if you don't have any monsters..." Yubel started, leaping on to her monster counterpart. HEY! Alexis' legs better not be broken when this is done and I tear you off her body! "I CAN STILL ATTACK YOU!"

Ultimate Nightmare struck me with a vine. No Life Points lost, but still didn't feel good. Yubel seemed satisfied with that, since she started smirking again.

"I end my turn." Yubel said.

But, oh, wait. You forget. What's that slowly forming on the field? Why, it's Samsara Lotus!

Ultimate Nightmare didn't have an effect to destroy other monsters on Yubel's field, so Yubel took 1000 Points of damage, leaving her with 3000! If I could survive 3 turns, I'd be good! Or...

"I play Pot of Greed!" I said, drawing two cards, and getting Aquos back! Yes! "Next, I play Convert Contact! If I don't have any monsters on my field, I can send a Neo-Spacian from my hand and one from my deck to the graveyard to draw two more cards!"

Aqua Dolphin and Grand Mole's spirits both nodded to me. I discarded Aqua Dolphin and sent Grand Mole from my deck to the grave. Then I drew two cards and got exactly who I needed!

"I summon Dark Panther!" I shouted, victoriously.

Dark Panther jump to my field.

"Jaden, don't let this Yubel girl get to you." Dark Panther advised. "You know who you are, and what you've always wanted to do."

I nodded back, then said, "But, why don't we play into her game for a minute?"

Dark Panther looked at me, confused for a minute, before he caught my hint. Panther activated his super power, turning into a copy of Ultimate Nightmare.

"So, Yubel, what was that you were saying about me enjoying causing pain?" I asked. "Because it looks to me like you're the one with the ability to destroy a monster you fight."

Yubel knew exactly what I was gonna do! Then, her... well, Alexis' eyes widened in horror.

"Dark Panther, attack Yubel - The Ultimate Nightmare!" I shouted.

Dark Panther, in his Ultimate Nightmare form, attacked the real Ultimate Nightmare. Now, instead of a Double KO happening, both monsters lived thanks to Ultimate Nightmare's effect preventing destruction by battle. Dark Panther copied Ultimate Nightmare's effect saving him too. But here's the fun part. Ultimate Nightmare has an effect to destroy any monster it fights. Dark Panther copied that effect too!

Panther and Nightmare struck each other, both shattering from the other's effect.

The only card left on the field was Samsara Lotus, which couldn't deal damage to me, and had an effect that slowly whittled down Yubel's Life Points. Yubel's best monster was destroyed, and it couldn't be brought back so easily from the graveyard. I had 4500 Life Points to Yubel's 3000. There was only one thing I could say, and it's something I'd always wanted to say.

"THE NIGHTMARE IS OVER, YUBEL!"

* * *

Author's Note: Just like the other duels, this duel was read by my friend WarMixedSoul to check for error. HA! I didn't forget this time!

I know by this point, people are probably expecting a rant about how bad Season 3 is. I had one prepared, but I wanna save myself from having to copy down a wall of text. So, I'll simply say this. Season 3 is a story about an abuser coming back into the main character's life, killing everyone close to him out of jealousy, and then blaming him for everything SHE did, while showing no signs of regret. Do I even need to point out the problems that arise from treating her as sympathetic? I mean, you can ship what you want. I ship Shinji with Kaworu, and that isn't exactly the healthiest relationship. But then again, I don't pretend Kaworu is an innocent little flower who has only done good. Same thing with Joker and Harley from Batman. I might not be the biggest Batman fan, but at least the writers didn't pretend that relationship was squeaky clean. And, seriously, pining the blame for the abuser's actions on the victim... If it was just Yubel doing it, fine. She's evil and wants an excuse for her actions, whatever. But the writers and shippers doing it too, just... I need a pallet cleanser.

Anyway, like I said, I'll try to get another chapter out for the 10 year anniversary. Mind you, I need to write the chapter on a laptop, then copy it down on my phone, which takes a lot of time. This chapter took three sittings across two days. Thankfully, it gives me a good excuse to cut the duel up into chapters. I mean, for more than just suspense purposes. After all, Jaden defeated the Ultimate Nightmare. What could Yubel possibly have left?

Incidentally, while the whole "Yubel can't be hurt by anything" ability just screams Mary Sue, did no one on the staff realize how easily it's outdone in the card game? Put base Yubel against D.D. Warrior and see if her second form comes out!

Now, if you don't mind, my pallet cleanser will be Tenchi Muyo In Love 2: Tenchi Forever. No joke, it did the same plot as Season 3, but... better. It's basically the antithesis to GX.

Actually, it amuses me how the writers went from mocking Chazz-anova, who only stole, to praising Yubel, who's got a laundry list of atrocities that makes Spirit Key Theft look light. I'd say Vegeta has in better than his equivalent on Yu-Gi-Oh GX, but let's be real. Yamcha even has it better than Chazz!


End file.
